UC-NRLF 


B     3     37M     7TD 


IHR        U  HI 


i! Will ■MPI'I'l^^i'^^i'  /') I W  f li M AI -fir"V 


fiF.XHE, 


I 


iiiiii  1 

iilili' 

HitrtntiimnmtnttiiMtittmiimiiiaiiiiiiiiiluMuiiMiiiuiiiummwMiiiiiil 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 


Gl  FT    OF 


Class 


^<»-**-vwi 


l-'^t-'a^-t.c*,^^  ^^ 


/^^<^  M7  ^-^^"^ 


AtrcHiNCLoss'  Chronology 


HOLT  BIBLE 


INTRODUCTION    BY 

A.  H.  SAYCE,  LL.D. 

PROFESSOR    OF   ASSYRIOLOGY,  QUEEN's    COLLEGE,  OXFORD,  ENGLAND 


NEW   YORK 

FOB  SALB   BY 

D.  VAN   NOSTRAND   COMPANY 
1908 


Copyright  1908 

BY 

W.  S.  AUCHINCLOSS 


DORNAN,  PRINTER 
PHILADELPHIA 


j^nvER^^"^^ 


Chronology  is  the  skeleton  of  history,  and  before  a  history 
of  Israel  can  be  written  it  is  necessary  that  we  should  have  some 
system  of  chronology  to  which  to  attach  it.  Light  has  been 
thrown  upon  the  chronology  of  the  Old  Testament  by  recent 
discoveries  in  Egypt  and  Assyria,  but  the  application  of  these 
discoveries  must  be  preceded  by  a  thorough  examination  of  what 
the  Old  Testament  itself  has  to  tell  us  upon  the  subject.  Older 
chronological  schemes  like  those  of  Usher  or  Hales  have  long 
since  been  discredited,  and  the  time  has  come  for  a  scheme  that 
will  better  suit  the  critical  requirements  of  today.  Such  a  scheme 
is  presented  by  Mr.  Auchincloss,  whose  book  contains  an  exhaus- 
tive account  of  the  chronological  data  of  the  Old  Testament. 
The  student  will  find  in  it  not  only  all  the  materials  needed  by 
the  chronologist,  but  also  a  combination  of  them  into  a  consistent 
and  scientifically  checked  system.  No  pains  have  been  spared 
to  make  the  work  at  once  complete  and  clear,  and  the  tables 
have  been  supplemented  by  a  chronological  index  which  will 
much  facilitate  their  use. 

From  the  reign  of  Rehoboam  onward,  Judseo-Israelitish 
chronology  ought  to  offer  little  difficulty.  The  compiler  of  the 
book  of  Kings  had  dated  annals  before  him,  and  it  might  have 
been  supposed,   therefore,   that  the  chronology  of  the  period 

(  iii  ) 


would  have  been  accurately  known.  On  the  contrary,  however, 
it  has  been  the  despair  of  later  chronologists,  and  the  decipher- 
ment of  the  Assyrian  inscriptions  has  shown  that  the  sum-total 
as  given  by  the  compiler  is  about  forty  years  in  excess.  ]Mr. 
Auchincloss  has  now  pointed  out  how  this  has  come  about.  The 
Hebrew  writer  has  gone  wrong  in  trying  to  ''balance  accounts.'^ 
He  has  struck  out  twenty-seven  years  from  the  reigns  of  the 
Judah's  kings,  and  nine  years  from  the  reigns  of  Israel's  kings. 

Before  the  reign  of  Rehoboam  the  chronological  problem  is 
less  simple.  Mr.  Shaw  Caldecott  has  lately  made  it  clear  that 
Solomon's  palace  was  destroyed  by  Shishak  when  he  sacked 
Jerusalem  in  the  fifth  year  of  Rehoboam ;  whatever  annals  were 
kept  in  it  would  have  been  destroyed  also.  Hence  it  is  that  the 
fragments  of  the  annals  of  David's  reign  preserved  in  ii  Sam. 
VIII  and  X  are  not  dated,  and  that  the  annals  of  Solomon's 
reign  are  not  given  at  all.  That  such  annals  once  existed,  how- 
ever, is  certain.  A  yearly  chronicle  of  events  was  kept  in  Egypt 
and  Babylonia  from  the  earliest  period,  and  a  papyrus  of  the 
Davidic  age,  now  at  St.  Petersburg,  shows  that  a  similar 
chronicle  was  kept  in  the  Phoenician  cities,  while  the  name  of 
the  "Recorder,"  that  is,  of  the  Registrar  of  the  state  annals, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  record  the  chief  events  of  each  year  of  a 
king's  reign,  is  given  for  the  reigns  of  both  David  and  Solomon 
[ii  Sam.  VIII,  16;  xx,  24;  i  Kings,  IV,  3]. 

What  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  by  Shishak  did  for  the  state 
annals  of  David  and  Solomon  the  destruction  of  the  national 
Sanctuary  at  Shiloh  by  the  Philistines  did  for  the  earlier  chronicles 
of  the  Hebrew  people.  Exact  chronological  notices  like  that  of 
the  duration  of  Chushan-rishathaim's  rule  [Judges  iii,  €]  show 
that  chronological  records  of  the  age  of  the  Judges  must  have 
been  preserved  in  other  places  besides  Shiloh.  Moreover,  while 
the  official    annals  of    David  and    Solomon  would  have  been 

(iv) 


inscribed  upon  papyrus,  or  parchment,  in  the  Hebrew  language 
and  characters^  those  of  the  age  of  the  Judges  (as  has  now  been 
made  clear  by  archaeological  discovery)  would  have  been  upon 
clay  tablets  and  in  the  cuneiform  characters  of  Babylonia. 
Since  the  clay  tablets  are  practically  indestructible,  it  is  prob- 
able that  they  are  still  lying  under  the  ruins  of  the  Hebrew 
Sanctuary  at  Shiloh  awaiting  the  spade  of  the  excavator  to  bring 
them  again  to  light.  The  papyrus  records  of  the  Jewish  kings, 
on  the  other  hand,  will  have  perished  in  the  conflagration  of  the 
archive-chamber  in  which  they  were  kept. 


o^ 


6/.   //•    u  <^ 


(V) 


PREFACE 


This  investigation  of  Bible  Chronology  is  entirely  new  and 
original.  It  has  brought  to  light  a  system  of  dates  in  every  case 
more  reliable  than  any  heretofore  employed,  whose  authority 
rests  absolutely  on  the  numerical  statements  of  the  Holy  Bible, 
regardless  of  all  other  sources  of  information. 

It  is  offered  as  a  substitute  for  the  Usher  system,  which  has 
outlived  its  usefulness. 

The  great  beauty  of  the  Bible  record  is  that,  together  with 
historical  data  of  the  most  varied  character,  it  supplies  a  com- 
plete set  of  checks  and  counter-checks  for  its  numerical  state- 
ments.^ These  have  been  the  means  of  preserving  the  original 
sense  and  integrity  of  the  text  amid  possible  errors  of  translators 
and  copyists^  so  that  at  the  present  day  we  are  able  to  steer  a 
straight  course  through  the  seas  of  antiquity  with  every  assur- 
ance of  certainty  and  at  the  end  of  the  course  to  present  an 
unbroken  chronology  which  spans  fifty-three  centuries. 

The  Bible  record  is  simply  a  marvel  !  Matchless  and  perfect 
in  all  its  parts. 

W.  S.  AUCHINCLOSS. 


(vii) 


f  OF  THE 

r'^^'lVERSITV 


Of 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Introduction  by  Professor  A.  H.  Sayce,  LL.D 3 

Preface 7 

PART  I. 
Data  Assembled  and  Analyzed ...       9-30 

PART  II. 

JOSEPHUS  AND  CHRONOLOGY 31-38 

PART  III. 
Bible  Chronology 39-51 

PART  IV. 
Israel  and  Chronology    . 51-58 

PART  V. 
Assyria  and  Chronology 59-68 

PART  VI. 
Bible  Dates  and  Julian  Calendar 69-75 

PART  VII. 
Chronological  Index 75-98 


(ix) 


CHKONOLOGY  OF  THE  HOLY  BIBLE. 


'  The  Bible  Is  not  a  work  on  Chronology  any  more  than  it  is  a 
treatise  on  astronomy  or  physics.  We  therefore  approach  it  in 
the  wrong  spirit  when  we  expect  to  find  a  list  of  reigns  arranged 
with  the  precision  characteristic  of  any  history  of  England  where 
years,  months  and  days  are  minutely  stated.  On  the  contrary 
the  Bible  scarcely  takes  notice  of  months  and  days  but  deals  in 
full  years,  merging  odd  months  with  the  reign  preceding  or  fol- 
lowing, consequently  the  true  length  must  be  determined  by 
historic  conditions  found  in  the  Bible,  before  the  count  can 
proceed.  Our  first  duty  then  will  be  to  ferret  out  the  unknown 
quantities  and  use  them  in  connection  with  the  known.  By  this 
means,  the  full  current  of  Scripture  light  will  be  turned  on  to  the 
Grand  Avenue  of  Bible  history,  and  all  occasion  for  stumbling 
or  perplexity  will  be  removed. 

The  first  obstacle  encountered  in  constructing  a  continuous 
record  is  found  in  the  life  of  the  prophet  Samuel. 

''Stop  right  here !"  some  one  will  exclaim;  "you  may  search  the 
Bible  from  cover  to  cover  and  you  cannot  find  any  mention  of 
how  many  years  Samuel  bore  supreme  rule  in  Israel !" —  We 
say:  —  Granted  !  but  the  Scripture  gives  you  all  the  data  neces- 
sary for  determining  that  period,  and  why  ask  more,  when  you 
can  figure  it  for  yourself  ? 

We  find  that:— 

Samuel ^s  Leadership. 

Acts      13,  20    From  division  of  land  to  reign  of  Saul  was  450  years 

Judges  11. 26         ''  "         "     "      "     Jephthah        "  300      " 

Consequently  from  Jephthah  to  Saul   -  -     150  years 

(7) 


8 


CHRONOLOGY    OF   THE    HOLY    BIBLE 


Brought  forward      (  From  Jephthah  to  Saul ) 

Judges  12,  7    Now  Jephthah  judged  Israel  for 


12,  9 

Ibzan              "          ' 

12,  11 

Elon 

12,  14 

Abdon 

13,  1 

Philistines  ruled      " 

15,  20 

Samson  judged       " 

5am.      4,  18 

EH 

150  years 


6 

yrs. 

7 

(I 

10 

" 

8 

" 

20 

(( 

20 

(( 

40 

(( 

From  Jephthah  to  Samuel  was Ill  years 

Therefore  Samuel  ruled  Israel  for 39  years 


^'^ 


This  demonstration  beautifully  illustrates  the  necessity  of  treat- 
ing the  Bible  as  a  whole  and  comparing  Scripture  with  Scripture. 
Evidently  without  the  book  of  Acts,  no  one  could  ever  have 
known  how  many  years  Samuel  ruled,  and  for  that  matter,  how 
many  years  Saul  was  on  the  throne  of  Israel.  But  the  book  of 
Acts  in  conjunction  with  Judges  and  Samuel,  reveal  the  whole 
truth  in  regard  to  both  reigns. 


JOSHUA  AND  THE  ELDERS. 

Every  true  patriot  loves  to  celebrate  the  anniversaries  of  his 
fatherland,  he  also  places  special  emphasis  on  Centennial  occa- 
sions. The  children  of  Israel  were  no  exception  to  the  rule,  only 
their  periods  of  celebration  seem  to  have  been  40  years  long 
and  were  patterned  after  their  years  in  the  wilderness.  We 
think  their  first  celebration  was  described  in  the  23rd  chap, 
of  Joshua,  where  it  is  said: — 

"And  it  came  to  pass  a  long  time  after  that  the  Lord  had  given  rest  unto 
Israel  from  all  their  enemies  round  about,  that  Joshua  waxed  old  and 
stricken  in  age." 

The  24th  chap,  gives  in  part  Joshua's  valedictory  address  in 
which  he  reminded  them: — 

"  Ye  dwelt  in  the  Wilderness  a  long  time." 


JOSHUA    AND    THE    ELDERS  9 

If  this  conjecture  is  true,  then  we  know  that  Joshua  was  25 
years  old  when  Israel  left  Sinai  for  Canaan,  64  years  when  they 
crossed  the  Jordan,  70  years  when  the  land  was  divided  and  110 
years  at  the  time  of  his  valedictory  address.  We  are  supported 
in  this  contention  by  several  passages: — 

"And  he  turned  again  into  the  camp;  but  his  servant  Joshua,  the  son 
of  Nun,  a  young  man  departed  not  out  of  the  Tabernacle."    [Exodus  33, 11.] 

"And  Joshua,  the  sun  of  Nun,  the  servant  of  Moses,  one  of  his  young  men, 
answered  and  said."  [Num.  li,  28.] 

Caleb,  the  son  of  Jephunneh,  testified  when  the  land  was 
divided : — 

Joshua  14, 10.- "Now,  lo,  I  am  this  day  fourscore  and  five  years  old." 
Num.  13,  3o.-Observe  how  the  mob  paid  respect  to  Caleb's  age. 

Caleb's  name  is  mentioned  before  Joshua's,  Caleb  being  40 
when  Joshua  was  25.  [Num.  32,  12.]  It  follows  that  the  entire 
time  from  the  division  of  the  land  to  the  death  of  Joshua  was 
about  40  years,  and  the  first  anniversary  celebration  took  place 
just  before  Joshua  dehvered  his  valedictory  oration  and  charged 
the  people  to  choose  that  day  whom  they  would  serve.  During 
those  40  years  Joshua  built  the  city  of  Timnath-serah  in  Mount 
Ephraim  and  dwelt  therein.  [Joshua.  19, 50  ]  This  division  of  time 
left  20  years  for  the  Elders  who  outlived  Joshua.  [Joshua.  24, 31.] 
Those  20  years  are  graphically  described  in  the  last  5  chapters 
of  the  book  of  Judges,  while  the  weakness  of  the  government 
also  the  lack  of  unity  among  the  people,  are  clearly  shown  in 
Judges  17,  6  where  it  says: — 

"In  those  days  there  was  no  King  in  Israel,  but  every  man  did  that 
which  was  right  in  his  own  eyes." 

We  see  therefore,  that  the  times  were  so  out  of  joint  that  a 
grand  national  celebration  would  have  been  an  impossibility 
hence  we  contend  that  the  first  celebration  took  place  during 
Joshua's  lifetime  and  that  we  have  rightly  located  the  death  of 


10  CHRONOLOGY  OF    THE    HOLY    BIBLE 

Joshua  exactly  forty  years  after  the  division  of  the  land.  Only 
a  strong  leader  beloved  by  the  nation — as  was  Joshua — could 
enlist  the  interest  of  all  and  bring  all  to  unite  in  such  a  patriotic 
demonstration.  The  Elders  who  outlived  Joshua  were  undoubt- 
edly the  Pioneers  of  Canaan.  Their  age  supplies  another 
confirmation  of  the  fact  that  they  only  survived  their  great 
leader  by  20  years.  ]\Ioses  tells  us — Num.  32,  11 — that  the 
Hebrew  youth  reached  their  majority  at  20  years,  consequently 
the  Pioneers  could  not  have  been  less  than  20  years  old  when 
the  land  was  divided.  As  to  the  maximum  of  average  life  we 
read — Psalm  90,  10 — that  it  reached  a  period  of  80  years. 
These  limitations  give  us  the  following  relative  ages: — 


Joshua  was  :  — 

The  Elders  were 

64  years  okl 

.     "When  Israel  crossed  the  Jordan     .     14  vears  old 

70     "        " 

"     the  land  was  divided     .     .     20     " 

110     "        " 

.     At  time  Joshua  died 60     " 

When  the  Elders  died       ....     SO     ''        " 

Thus  in  two  ways  we  reach  the  same  conclusion,  viz. — that 
the  Elders  or  Pioneers  of  Canaan  outlived  their  great  leader  by 
20  years. 

DIVISION  OF  THE  LAND. 

The  history  of  Caleb  the  son  of  Jephunneh  supplies  us  with 
a  knowledge  of  the  time  spent  in  Canaan  before  the  land  was 
divided  among  the  people.     Since  Caleb  was  40  years  old  when 
Israel  left  Sinai,  he  was  39  years  old  when  they  left  Egypt. 
We  have  then — 

Josh.  14,  10    Caleb's  age  when  land  was  divided      .  So  years 
Josh.  14,  7           "         "      at  time  of  the  Exodus      .     39 

Exod.  16,  35    Caleb  dwelt  in  the  Wilderness    .     .     .     40  79 

Total  6  years 


Thus  we  learn  that  the  land  was  divided  6  years  after  Israel 
crossed  the  Jordan. 


DIVISION    OF  THE   LAND  11 

WILDERNESS  MEMORIALS. 

The  experience  of  Israel  in  the  Wilderness  made  such  a  deep 
impression  on  the  mind  of  the  nation,  that  for  200  years  they 
continued  to  observe  memorial  exercises. 

The  division  of  land  took  place B.C.  1431 

1st  Memorial  celebrated  by  Joshua       ....  "  1391 

2nd         "         was  omitted "  1351 

3rd          *'         time  of  Deborah "  1311 

4th          "               "      Jair "  1271 

5th          "               *'      Jephthah "  1231 

They  had  the  best  of  reasons  for  omitting  the  2nd  Memorial, 
because  from  B.C.  1359  to  1341,  a  period  of  18  years,  Israel 
served  the  King  of  Moab.  It  is  significant,  however,  that  they 
preserved  their  count  with  that  of  the  3rd  Memorial  and  speak 
of  the  time  as  having  been  80  years. 

The  record  runs  as  follows: — 

Joshua  1,  13    "Your  God  hath  given  you  rest  and  hath  given  you  this  land.'* 

Judges  3,  11    "And  the  land  had  rest" 40  years 

3,  30    "And  the  land  had  rest" 80     ** 

5,  31    "And  the  land  had  rest" 40     " 

"       8,  28    "And  the  country  was  in  quietness" 40     " 

Total    200  years 

These  200  years  carry  us  from  the  division  of  the  land  by 
Joshua  over  to  the  first  year  of  Jephthah,  when  the  Ammonites 
questioned  the  title  of  Israel  to  the  land  itself. 

We  accept  this  Scripture  record  as  our  guide  and  modify  two 
other  statements  accordingly: — 

Judges  11,  26     Will  then  read  200  years  instead  of  300  years. 
Acts     13,  20     Will  then  read  350  years  instead  of  450  years. 

Please  note  in  this  connection  that  the  modification  has  no 
effect  on  the  computed  age  of  Samuel.  It  still  remains  a  fact, 
that  he  ruled  Israel  for  39  years. 


12 


CHRONOLOGY    OF   THE    HOLY    BIBLE 


One  other  way  remains,  for  showing  how  necessary  it  is  to 
abate  the  100  years  in  question: — 


Judges    11,  26 
Acts       13,  20 


From  division  of  land  to  Jephthah      .     .     300  yrs. 
"     Jephthah  to  Saul  450—300    ...     150     " 


1st  Result:— Canaan  to  Saul     . 

450  yrs. 

I  Kin.       6,  1 

From  Exodus  to  building  of 

Temple    479 

Exodus  16,  35 

In  the  wilderness  .     . 

.      40 

Josh.l4,  7,  10 

To  division  of  land    . 

G 

Acts        13,  21 

Saul  reigned     .     .     . 

.      40 

I  Kin.       2,  11 

David     "          ... 

.      40 

I  Kin.       6,  1 

To  "4th  yr.  of  Solomc 
2nd  Result:— Can 

m"       3 

129 

aan  to  Saul 
Difference 

350 

100  yrs. 

Thus  w^e  get  two  statements  of  time,  from  division  of  land  to 
reign  of  Saul,  differing  by  100  years.  Both  cannot  be  right, 
therefore  the  100  years  must  be  stricken  out  as  stated  above. 


OTHNIEL,  EHUD,  SHMIGAR,  DEBORAH,  GIDEON. 

These  five  judges  ruled  in  stirring  times  but  only  for  short 
periods.  The  Bible  is  silent  as  to  how  long  each  one  adminis- 
tered the  government,  but  it  does  say: — 

"The  Lord  raised  up  Judges,  which  delivered  them  out  of  the  hand  of 
those   that   spoiled  them.     And  yet  they  would  not  hearken  unto  their 

judges   but turned   quickly   out    of   the   way   which   their   fathers 

walked  in."     [Judges  2,  le,  17.] 

A  little  farther  on,  it  will  be  shown,  on  the  basis  of  60  years 
for  Joshua  and  the  Elders,  that  the  combined  rule  of  the  5 
judges  was  20  years,  which  gives  an  average  of  4  years  to  each 
judge.  Owing  to  the  absence  of  exact  periods,  we  shall  take  this 
average  as  our  guide  in  locating  their  respective  administrations. 
Of  course  any  grouping  of  numbers  with  20  for  its  total,  such 
as: — 3,  5,  2,  6,  4,  would  answer  the  purpose  but  the  variations 
in  distribution  would  be  too  slight  for  notice. 


OTHNIEL,    EHUD,    SHAMGAR,    DEBORAH,    GIDEON  13 


SERVITUDES. 

Strange  to  say,  some  writers  count  the  administration  of 
Othniel,  Ehud,  Shamgar,  Deborah  and  Gideon  as  having  lasted 
200  years  and  wipe  out  the  servitudes,  making  them  equal  to 
zero,  on  the  assumption  that  only  "years  of  Divine  favor"  should 
enter  into  the  problem.  They  contend  that  the  others  were 
"blotted  out"  and  no  longer  remembered.  This  is  very  beautiful 
in  theory,  but  it  is  poor  mathematics.  True,  it  disposes  of 
unwelcome  numbers,  but  after  all,  the  years  came  and  went  just 
like  ordinary  years  and  unquestionably  entered  into  the  lives 
of  Salmon,  Boaz,  Obed,  and  Jesse  the  father  of  David.  Now  it 
is  a  well  known  fact  that  Nahshon,  the  father  of  Salmon,  died 
before  Israel  crossed  the  Jordan,  also  that  from  the  Crossing  to 
the  birth  of  David  was  by  least  calculation  366  years.  After 
Salmon  came  Boaz,  Obed  and  Jesse,  making  4  generations  from 
Jordan  to  David  with  an  average  of  about  90  years  to  a  gener- 
ation. This  figure  is  wholly  within  the  bounds  of  reason  for 
we  are  told  that  Jacob  had  two  sons  after  he  was  90  years  old  and 
that  Abraham  had  6  sons  after  he  was  100  years  old.  But 
when  we  are  asked  to  believe  that  the  4  generations — Salmon, 
Boaz,  Obed,  Jesse — averaged  say  135  years  to  a  generation  we 
say  decidedly.  No  ! — because  the  oldest  men  of  those  times  were 
Levi  137— Kohath  133— Amram  137— Moses  120  and  Jehoiada 
130. 

Even  90  years  cannot  be  accepted  as  the  average  length,  be- 
cause the  genealogies  of  Asaph,  Heman  and  Jeduthan  show 
distinctly  an  average  of  about  30  years  to  a  generation  and  on 
that  basis,  it  is  evident  that  8  names  have  been  omitted  be- 
tween Salmon  and  Boaz.  This  is  easily  accounted  for  by  the 
loss  of  records  when  Shiloh  fell  and  the  Ark  was  taken  in  B.C. 
1121.  Whence  we  learn  that  Boaz  should  be  regarded  as  a 
descendant  of  Salmon  and  not  as  his  own  son. 


14 


CHRONOLOGY   OF   THE    HOLY    BIBLE 


EXODUS  TO  THE  TEMPLE. 

We  give  below  a  list  of  those  who  bore  rule  from  the  Exodus 
to  the  kingdom,  and  add  to  the  same  the  83  years  from  the 
kingdom  to  the  Temple. 


Summary. 


Joshua     5,  6 
"      14,  10 


Judges 


I  Sam. 


24,31 
3,8 
3,11 
3,  14 
3,30 
4,3 
5,31 
6,1 
8,28 
9,22 
10,2 
10,3 
10,8 

12,7 
12,9 
12,11 
12,  14 
13,1 
15,20 
4,18 


See  page  8 


]\Ioses  ruled 

The  land  divided  at  the  end  of 

Joshua  and  "The  Elders"    .... 
Servitude  to  Mesopotamia   .... 

Othniel 

Servitude  to  Moabites 

Ehud  and  Shamgar 

Servitude  to  Canaanites        .      .      .      . 

Deborah 

Servitude  to  INIidianites 

Gideon 

Abimelech  ruled 

Tola  " 

Jair  " 

Servitude  to  Philistines  and  Ammonites 


Jephthah  ruled 

Ibzan   

Elon 

Abdon       

Servitude  to  Philistines  [40-20] 

Samson  ruled 

Eh  "  

Samuel      "  


EXODUS  TO  THE  KINGDOM 

r  Saul         40  yrs 
To  Temple  }  David      40   " 
( Solomon    3   " 


40  vears 


60  " 

8  " 

4  " 

18  " 


20 

4 

7 

4 

3 

23 

22 

19 


10 
8 
20 
20 
40 
39 


396  yrs 


46 


200 


150 


83 


EXODUS  TO  THE  TEMPLE 


479 


"And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  480th  year  [479  years  having  gone 

by]  after  the  children  of  Israel  were  come  out  of  Egypt 

that  they  began  to  build  the  house  of  the  Lord."  [i  Kings    6,  i] 


EXODUS   TO    THE   TEMPLE  15 

SAUL'S  31sT  AND  32nd  YEARS. 

Another  cause  of  perplexity,  and  one  quite  familiar  to  proof- 
readers, arises  when  in  order  to  preserve  the  consistency  of  the 
text  something  must  be  supplied.  For  example,  in  keeping 
with  I  Kin.  16,  8  we  supply  twentieth  for  the  word  ''thirtieth"  in 
II  Chron.  16, 1 — 15, 19. — In  harmony  with  ii  Kin.  8,  26  we  supply 
twenty  for  the  word  ''forty"  in  ii  Chron.  22,  2.  Supported  by 
II  Kin.  24,  8  we  supply  eighteen  for  the  word  "eight"  in 
II  Chron.  36,  9.  Again,  when  Saul  was  chosen  king  we  are 
told  that  he  was: — 

"a  choice  young  man,  and  a  goodly ;  and  there  was  not  among  the  children 
of  Israel  a  goodlier  person  than  he;  from  his  shoulders  and  upward  he 
was  higher  than  any  of  the  people."      [i  Samuel  9,  2.] 

However,  he  was  so  bashful  that  at  the  critical  moment  when 
Samuel  was  ready  to  make  him  king,  Saul  hid  himself  "among 
the  stuff."  A  little  farther  on  we  read: — 

"Saul  reigned  ( )  one  year;  and  when  he  had  reigned  ( ) 

two  years  over  Israel,  Saul  chose  him  3000  men;"  placed  1000  under 
Jonathan  in  Gibeah  and  retained  2000  in  Michmash  under  his  own 
command.     U  Samuel  13,  i.J 

So  sudden  a  transition  is  very  surprising  but  the  same  old 
treatment  applies: — "  search  the  scriptures  " — 
and  all  will  become  plain  as  daylight.  Turn  to  ii  Samuel  2,  10 
and  you  will  learn  that  Saul's  2nd  son — ^Ish-bosheth — was  40 
years  old  when  Saul  died,  he  therefore  was  born  the  same  year 
that  Saul  was  made  king.  But  the  elder  brother,  Jonathan, 
was  born  at  least  one  year  before  Ish-bosheth,  so  that  Saul 
came  to  the  kingdom  as  the  father  of  two  boys  and  not  as  a 
mere  callow  youth.  Read  now  the  account  of  Jonathan's  deeds 
of  valor  and  you  will  not  err  if  you  supply  the  numeral  30.  The 
text  will  then  read : — 

"Saul  reigned  (thirty)  one  years;  and  when  he  had  reigned  (thirty)  two 
years  over  Israel,  Saul  chose  him  3000  men;"  placed  1000  under  Jonathan 
in  Gibeah  and  retained  2000  in  Michmash  under  his  own  command. 


16  CHRONOLOGY   OF   THE    HOLY   BIBLE 

Thus  we  realize  that  Scripture  will  always  explain  itself. 


LAST  4  YEARS  OF  ABSALOM. 

Superfluous  figures  as  well  as  omissions  occur  in  the  experience 
of  proofreaders.     A  case  in  point  is  afforded  by : — n  Samuei  15,  7. 
"And  it  came  to  pass  after  40  years,  that  Absalom  said  unto  the  king,"  &c. 

Here,  a  cypher  has  mysteriously  entered   the  account,  for  the 
passage  should  have  read: — 

"After  4  years,  that  Absalom  said  unto  the  king." 

This  correction  rests  on  the  authority  of  the  Greek  text,  which 
reads : — 

"After  4  years  Absalom  said  unto  the  king." 

Also  on  the  authority  of  Josephus  who  says: — Antq.  vii.  9,  1. 

"But  when  4  years  had  passed." 

Besides,  Absalom's  history  goes  to  show  that  his  entire  life 
barely  exceeded  30  years,  so  that  40  years  would  have  been  an 
impossibility. 


GRANDFATHER— GRANDCHILD. 

The  Old  Testament,  when  giving  the  name  of  a  child,  once 
removed,  makes  no  use  of  the  modern  prefix  ''grand."  With 
it,  a  grandson  is  simply  a  son;  and  a  granddaughter  simply  a 
daughter.  It  is  important  to  bear  this  distinction  in  mind  when 
locating  the  characters  chronologically.  We  read  frequently  of 
Jehu  the  son  of  Nimshi  [iKin.  19, 16],  when  in  truth  his  father 
was  named  Jehoshaphat,  and  his  grandfather  Nimshi.  [n  Kin.  9, 2.] 
Then  again  Athaliah  the  daughter  of  Omri  [n  Chron.  22, 2]  was  in 
reaUty  the  daughter  of  Aliab  and  granddaughter  of  Omri. 
[II  Chron.  21,6.]     Although  Mcphiboshcth  was  called    the  son  of 


KINGS   OF   ISRAEL  17 

Saul  [ii  Sam.  19, 24],  he  was  the  son  of  Jonathan  and  grandson 
of  Saul,  [ii  Sam.  4,  4.]  In  like  manner  Nebuchadnezzar  was  the 
grandfather  of  Belshazzar  and  Nabonidus  the  father.  [Dan.  5,  ii.l 
Achan,  according  to  Joshua  22,  20,  was  the  ''Son  of  Zerah," 
but  in  reality  he  was  the  great-grandson  of  Zerah  as  explained 
in  Joshua  7,  IS.  The  careful  reader,  however,  will  supply  the 
prefix  "grand"  as  the  occasion  may  require. 


KINGS  OF  ISRAEL. 

The  list  of  Israel's  monarchs  marshals  before  the  inquirer  an 
array  of  495  years  extending  from  the  coronation  of  Saul  to  the 
burning  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar.  The  period  may  be 
divided  into  three  parts: — 

Chronologically  speaking,  the  reigns  of  Saul,  David  and 
Solomon  present  no  difficulties.  The  same  is  true  of  the  time 
when  Judah  alone  was  a  nation,  but  many  look  upon  the  time 
when  Israel  and  Judah  were  separate  kingdoms,  as  a  most 
perplexing  period,  in  fact  an  enigma. 

•  We  purpose  to  give  special  attention  to  the  supposed  diffi- 
culties and  to  show  that  the  Bible  record  is  perfectly  consistent 
and  as  plain  as  A  B  C. 

In  describing  the  reigns  of  the  various  kings  the  Bible  presents 
the  subject  in  a  two-fold  manner.  One  record  deals  with  totals, 
as  for  instance — "Asa  reigned  24  years" — the  other  record 
places  limitations,  for  example — ^Asa  began  to  reign  in  the  20th 
year  of  Jeroboam  and  died  in  the  4th  year  of  Ahab.  The  latter 
way  of  presenting  the  subject  invariably  yields  the  best  results. 

Then  again  the  Bible  indicates  the  presence  of  regencies, 
as  the  result  of  old  age,  of  a  severe  fall,  of  incapacity,  and  of 
leprosy,  but  takes  no  pains  to  put  the  enumerator  on  his  guard 
against  the  error  of  a  double  count.  Every  careful  accountant, 
however,  as  a  matter  of  course,  will  search  out  as  many  checks 
as  possible  and  apply  them  to  the  work  in  hand. 


18 


CHRONOLOGY   OF   THE   HOLY   BIBLE 


With  these  general  features  in  mind,  we  have  made  a  geo- 
metrical plotting  of  each  year  from  B.C.  961  to  721,  have 
studied  every  event  in  its  historical  setting  and  arrived  at  the 
following  figures,  which  can  be  accepted  as  the  true  length  of 
each  king's  reign. 

THE  KINGDOM. 

(  From   Salt,  to  Zedekiah.) 


Acts       13,  21 

Saul       reigned 

40  years 

I  Kin.   2,  11 

David 



40 

11 

"     11,42 

Solomon      " 



40 

cc 

1  00 

"     12,16 

Rchoboam  " 

18 

(( 

"    15,1 

Abijah         " 

2 

it 

"    15,9 

Asa 

42 

(( 

"    22,41 

Jehoshaphat  reigned        .... 

23 

(( 

nlvin.    8,  16 

Jehoram 

(Regent  2) 

6 

(( 

"      9,  29 

Aliaziah 

" 

1 

i( 

"    11,3 

Athaliah 

" 

6 

" 

"    12,  1 

Joash    reigned 



39 

(( 

"  14,   1,17 

Amaziah    "     . 
Uzziah       " 

14 
53 

(I 

11 

"  14,21,17 

(Regent  15  vrs.)     . 

"    15,  32 

Jotham      " 

(Regent  14  yrs.)     . 

15 

(C 

"    16,1 

Ahaz 



15 

cc 

"    18,10 

6th  Hezekiah 



6 

a 

-  240 

"    18,2 

29tli      " 

23 

cc 

"    21,1 

Manasseh  reigned 

56 

cc 

"    21,19 

Am  on              " 

2 

cc 

"    22,  1 

Josiah              " 

31 

cc 

"    23,31 

Jehoahaz         " 

.      .      .       say 

% 

cc 

"    23,36 

Jehoiakim       " 

11 

(C 

"    24,8 

Jehoiachin       " 

sav 

K 

cc 

"    24,18 

Zedekiah   .      . 

Total    . 

11 

cc 

135 

-    • 

• 

495 

THE   TWO    KINGDOMS 


19 


YEARS  OF  ACTIVE  RULE. 

(Regardless  of  Regencies.) 


References 

JUDAH 

-2 

References 

ISRAEL 

1 

^^" 
>* 

H 

^^" 

H 

I  Kin.          12,  16 

Rehoboam 

18 

I  Kin. 

12,16 

Jeroboam  I 

22 

15,  1 

Abijah 

2 

" 

15,25 

Nadab 

1 

15,9 

Asa 

42 

" 

15,33 

Baasha 

23 

22,  41 

Jehoshaphat 

23 

" 

16,8 

Elah  and  Zimri 

1 

II  Kin.           8,  16 

Jehoram 

6 

"   16,22,23 

Tibni  and  Omri 

11 

9,  29 

Ahaziah 

1 

a 

16,29 
22,51 

Ahab 
Ahaziah 

21 

1 

^^^^^ 

9? 

11  Kin. 

1,17,3,1 

Joram 

12 

CHANGE    OF 

RULERS    AFTER 

YEARS 

99. 

II  Kin.         11,3 

Athaliah 

6 

II  Kin. 

9,27 

Jehu 

29 

12,  1 

Joash 

39 

" 

13,1 

Jehoahaz 

14 

"     14,    1,  17 

Amaziah 

14 

59 

" 

13,10 

Joash 

16 

PTTA'NTmT'     nv 

RULERS    AFTER 

Uzziah 

YEARS 

59 

II  Kin.  14,  21,  17 

53 

II  Kin. 

14,23 

Jeroboam  11 

38 

15,32 

Jotham 

15 

u 

15,8 
15,8 

Zachariah  and 
Shalhim 

1 

16,  1 

Ahaz 

15 

" 

15,17 

Menahem 

10 

18,  10 

6th  Hezekiah 

6 

li 

15,23 

16,1 

17,1 

Pekahiah 
Pekah 

2 
29 

^-""^ 

89 

(( 

17,1 

Hoshea 

9 

89 

JUDAH'S  Total     ....    240 

ISRAE 

L'S  Total     .     . 

.     .    240 

It  will  be  noted,  that  the  figures  take  a  fresh  start  after  each 
simultaneous  change  of  rulers.  This  feature  affords  an  excel- 
lent check  upon  the  work.  No  lapses  of  government  occurred 
during  the  entire  period,  consequently  there  were  no  "interreg- 


nums. 


20  CHRONOLOGY    OF   THE   HOLY    BIBLE 

REGENCIES. 

There  are  four  regencies  found  in  the  history  of  Judah  and 
Israel's  kings  which  appear  in  the  following  list: 

1st.  —  Jehoran  was  made  Regent  2  years  before  his  father  died. 

2nd.  —  Joram  "  "         6         "  "         brother  " 

3r(l.  —  Uzziah  "  "       15         "  "         father      " 

4th.  —  Jotham  ''  "       14 

These  supplemental  governments  are  largely  responsible  for 
difficulties  in  chronology,  because  in  effect  they  introduced 
a  double  count,  which  at  last  prompted  the  sacred  writer  to  try 
and  balance  his  accounts,  a  process  which  only  made  matters 
worse,  because  it  did  not  remove  the  disturbing  cause. 

Among  the  regencies,  those  of  Uzziah  and  Jotham  are  the 
most  complex  and  are  thought  worthy  of  special  mention. 


Amaziah  reigned  alone  from 
Uzziah  reigned  as  regent  from 
Amaziah  died  in  . 
Uzziah's  active  reign  ran  from 
Jotham  reigned  as  regent 
Uzziah  died  in     ...     . 


B.C.  824  to  810—14  yrs. 
"     810  to  795— 15    " 

B.C.  795 
"    810  to  757—53    " 
"     757  to  743—14    " 

B.C.  743 


UNBALANCED  ACCOUNTS. 

We  are  now  safely  across  the  240  years  of  divided  kingdom, 
have  reached  solid  ground  and  have  settled  every  reign  on  its 
true  basis.  We  are  therefore  in  a  position  to  review  profitably 
the  numerical  work  of  the  writer  of  the  Book  of  King^s  and  to 
sympathize  with  him  in  the  difficulties  that  beset  his  path,  for 
undoubtedly  many  valuable  records  of  the  Sanctuary  were 
destroyed  when  the  Philistines  burnt  the  town  of  Shiloh — 1121 — 
and  carried  away  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant.  We  know  not 
what  books  of  reference  lay  before  him,  but  cannot  go  far  astray 
if  we  count  the  following  list  as  part  of  the  number : 


TV 


LNBALANCED    ACCOUNTS 


21 


1.  "Book  of  the  wars  of  the  Lord." 

2.  ''Story  of  the  book  of  the  kings."  . 

3.  "Book  of  the  kings  of  Judahand  Israel. 

4.  "  Book  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah. 


5.  "Bookof  Jasher." 

6.  "  Book  of  Samuel  the  Seer. 

7.  "Bookof  Jehu." 

8.  "Bookof  Iddo  the  Seer." 


All  of  these  works  of  reference  have  long  since  been  destroyed, 
but  their  numerals  have  been  preserved,  and  with  these  we  can 
trace  the  problem  that  confronted  the  sacred  author.  The 
following  table  shows  each  item  and  the  totals  show  the  amounts 
to  be  reconciled : — 

IRRECONCILABLE  LENGTHS. 


References 

JUDAH 

Said  to 

have 
reigned 

References 

ISRAEL 

Said  to 

have 
reigned 

I  Kin.  14,  21 

Rehoboam 

17  yrs. 

I  Kin.  14,  20 

Jeroboam  I 

22  yrs. 

"     15, 2 

Abijah 

.    3      " 

"     15,25 

Nadab 

2     " 

"     15,  10 

Asa 

41      " 

"     15, 33 

Baasha 

24     " 

"     22,42 

Jehoshaphat 

25     " 

"     16,8 

Elah  and  Zimri 

2     " 

II  Kin.    8,  17 

Jehoram 

8     " 

"     16, 23 

Tibni  and  Omri 

12     " 

"       8,26 

•  Ahaziah 

1     " 

"     16,29 

Ahab 

22     " 

"     11,3 

Queen  Athaliah 

6     " 

"     22, 51 

Ahaziah 

2     " 

"     12,1 

Jehoash 

40     " 

II  Kin.    3,  1 

Jehoram 

12     " 

"     14, 2 

Amaziah 

29     " 

"     10,36 

Jehu 

28     " 

"     15'^ 

Uzziah 

52     " 

"     13,  1 

Jehoahaz 

17     " 

"     15, 30 

Jotham 

20     " 

"     13,  10 

Jehoasli 

16     " 

"     18,  1 

Jotham  to 

Hezekiah 

3     " 

"     14,23 

Jeroboam  II 

41     " 

"     18,  10 

6th  year  of 

Hezekiah 

6     " 

"15,8,13 

Zachariali  and 

Shallum 

0  yrs. 

"     16, 2 

Ahaz  (skipped) 

16     " 

"     15,17 

Menaliem 

10     " 

/ 

"     15, 23 

Pekahiah 

2     " 

/ 

"     16,1 
"     17,1 

Quahfied  by : 

29     " 

/ 

"     17,1 

"     18,1 

12  yrs.  \  ., 
3     ^c    |Aliaz 

/ 

"     16,2 

J^}  Excess  1  1 

8     " 

/ 

"     17, 1 

Hoshea  9  yrs  J 
ISRAEL'S  Total  •* 

JUDAH'S  Total 

267  yrs. 

249  yrs. 

22  CHRONOLOGY    OF   THE   HOLY    BIBLE 

There  was  only  one  way  out  of  this  maze  and  that  was  a 
resort  to  the  synchronous  dates  given  in  other  parts  of  the  Bible, 
as  already  explained.  But  the  sacred  writer  made  the  fatal 
mistake  of  trying  to  balance  the  accounts,  a  thing  which  could 
not  be  done.  However,  he  moved  the  1st  year  of  Uzziah 
along  27  points  (n  Kin.  15,  1)  and  thus  reduced  his  total  for 
Judah's  kings  from  267  years  to  240  years.  He  then  shortened 
the  reign  of  Pekah  by  9  years  (n  Kin.  15,  27)  and  thus  reduced 
his  total  for  Israel's  kings  from  249  years  to  240  years. 

Now  that  we  know  his  process,  we  can  easily  restore  the  text. 
We  have  only  to  make: — 

iiKin.  15. 1  read ''In  the  1st  year  of  Jeroboam," 

II Kin.  15,  27  ''     "Began  to  reign  over  Israel  in  Samaria, 

and  reigned  29  years." 
and  the  harmony  of  the  synchronous  dates  will  be  preserved. 
The  same  writer  found  a  gap  of  100  years  between  the  Exodus 
and  the  Temple,  which  he  tried  to  fill  by  adding  100  to  the 
Ammonite  period,  making  it  300  years  instead  of  200.  This 
only  produced  confusion,  because  the  time  belonged: 

40  years  to  Joshua's  government. 

20  "     "  the  Elders, 

20  "     "  Othniel,  Ehud,  Shamgar,  Deborah,  and  Gideon. 

20  "     "  final  servitude  to  Philistines. 

Total  100  years. 

Each  of  these  items  should  have  been  entered  separately  in 
its  appropriate  place  and  not  recorded  as  a  whole.  We  credit 
all  of  these  attempts  to  balance  accounts,  to  the  one  writer, 
because  the  idea  in  each  case  was  the  same,  also  because  por- 
tions of  the  Books  of  Judges  and  Kings  were  written  after 
Samaria  fell  in  B.C.  721— See  Judges  18,  30.     Proverbs  25,  1. 


BOAZ  AND  RUTH. 

The  book  of  Ruth  belongs  to  Eli's  time  and  was  written  after 
David  became  king. 


LAST    YEARS    OF   JIIDAH  23 

AHAZ  MADE  KING  AT  THIRTY. 

Many  find  diflSculty  in  reconciling  the  relative  ages  of  Ahaz 
and  his  son  Hezekiah,  when  in  turn  each  became  king  of  Judah. 
This  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  attempt  to  balance  accounts 
in  effect  struck  out  10  years  of  actual  time  and  made  the  age 
of  Ahaz  only  20  years  when  it  should  have  been  30  years.  The 
only  way  to  correct  a  list  of  ages  or  reigns  is  to  correct  each 
false  item.  It  cannot  be  accomplished  by  arbitrarily  increasing 
or  diminishing  any  one  or  more  of  the  items,     ii  Kin.  16,  2. 


LAST  YEARS  OF  JUDAH. 

After  Israel  went  into  captivity  B.C.  721,  the  kingdom  of 
Judah  lasted  135  years  longer.  In  studying  this  interval  we 
miss  the  checks  afforded  by  synchronous  dates,  and  jet  one 
check  remains  which  covers  30  years  of  the  time  and  is  found 
in  Ezekiel  1,  1  and  2.  It  began  with  the  Great  Passover  of 
Josiah,  B.C.  623,  and  ran  over  to  B.C.  593,  the  5th  year  of  Zede- 
kiah,  which  was  also  the  5th  year  of  Jehoiachin's  captivity. 
This  period  binds  together  the  reigns  of  five  kings  and  leaves 
only  two  unchecked.  However,  the  years  B.C.  721  and  586  are 
themselves  so  surely  determined  that  not  a  shadow  of  a  doubt 
hangs  over  any  reign  covered  by  the  period. 

xAfter  the  Chaldean  rule,  Judah  passed  successively  under 
the  control  of  Persia,  Greece  and  Syria.  Finally  Judas  Macca- 
beus set  up  the  Asmonean  Dynasty  in  B.C.  163  and  his  brother 
Simon  secured  entire  freedom  for  the  Nation,  on  Independence 
Day  May  4th  B.C.  141.  Judas  Aristobulus  became  king  in 
B.C.  104.  The  dynasty  lasted  126  years  and  was  followed  by 
the  Idumean  Dynasty  of  Herod  in  B.C.  37.  The  death  of  Herod 
B.C.  1  marked  the  end  of  Jewish  national  life.  Rome  then 
took  control  and  words  uttered  almost  17  centuries  before,  by 
the  patriarch  Jacob,  found  their  fulfilment: — 

"The  sceptre  shall  not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a  lawgiver  from  between  his 
feet,  until  Shiloh  come:  and  unto  him  shall  the  gathering  of  the  people  be." 


24  CHRONOLOGY   OF   THE   HOLY   BIBLE 


SABBATIC  YEARS. 

The  Mosaic  law  commanded,  that  every  7th  year,  planting 
should  be  omitted  and  the  land  allowed  to  lie  fallow.  The 
year  was  called  the  Sabbatic  year  and  the  custom  was  observed 
by  Israel  until  they  cast  off  the  theocratic  government  and 
chose  Saul  for  their  king.  Saul  began  to  reign  in  B.C.  1081 
and  in  1073,  which  was  a  Sabbatic  year,  Israel  failed  to  observe 
the  law  and  "inquired  not  at  the  ark  in  the  days  of  Saul"  (n 
Chron.  13,  3).  After  the  first  omission,  neglect  of  the  Sabbatic 
year  became  a  chronic  habit  and  period  followed  period  until 
they  had  disobeyed  the  command  70  times.  The  year  B.C. 
590  was  the  70th  omission,  and  we  read  in  Ezek.  20,  3,  31,  21. 

''And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  7th  year  in  the  5th  month  the  10th  day  of 
the  month  (August  1  B.C.  590)  that  certain  of  the  Elders  of  Israel  came  to 
inquire  of  the  Lord,  and  sat  before  me.  Then  came  the  word  of  the  Lord 
unto  me  saying: — as  I  live  saith  the  Lord  God,  I  will  not  be  inquired  of 
by  you,"  &c.  .  .  .  "and   my  Sabbaths  they  greatly  polluted,"  &c.  .  .  . 

In  a  word,  God  cast  them  off,  and  before  4  years  went  by, 
Nebuchadnezzar  had  burnt  their  Temple  and  put  an  end  to 
their  kingdom. 

"They  were  carried  away  to  Babylon  .  .  .  until  the  land  had  enjoyed 
her  Sabbaths;  for  as  long  as  she  lay  desolate  she  kept  Sabbath  to  fulfil  three 
score  and  ten  (70)  years."— n  Chron.  36,  20,  21— Lev.  26,  34,  42. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  how  can  we  be  assured  that  B.C.  1073  and 
590  were  Sabbatic  years  ?  —  We  answer,  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
Jewish  authorities  have  for  nearly  19  centuries  recognized 
B.C.  37  also  B.C.  30  as  Sabbatic  years,  it  is  fair  to  take  them  as 
a  basis  of  calculation.  If  we  divide  each  of  these  numbers  by 
7  we  obtain  2  for  a  remainder.  Now  apply  the  same  test  to 
the  years  1073  and  590  and  we  shall  find  a  remainder  of  2  in 
each  instance.  The  70  years  during  which  the  Temple  lay  in 
ruins,  therefore,  furnishes  us  with  an  admirable  check  on  the 


LINK    BETWEEN    OLD    AND    NEW    TESTAMENT  25 

figures  given  in  the  foregoing  summary  of  the  kings  of  Israel 
and  of  Judah,  and  assures  us  that  the  figures  can  be  implicitly 
relied  upon  for  their  accuracy. 

The  Sabbatic  law  reads  as  follows: — 

"Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  and  say  unto  them,  Wheii  ye  come 
into  the  land  which  I  give  you,  then  shall  the  land  keep  a  Sabbath  unto 
the  Lord.  Six  years  thou  shalt  sow  thy  field  .  .  .  but  in  the  seventh 
year  shall  be  a  Sabbath  of  rest  unto  the  land." — Lev.  25,  1,  2,  3. 

The  children  of  Israel  crossed  the  Jordan  and  came  into  the 
land  in  B.C.  1437,  and  did  their  first  sowing  for  a  complete  crop 
in  the  following  year,  hence  B.C.  1430  ought  to  have  been 
observed  as  a  Sabbatic  year.  Applying  the  test  already  given 
we  find  that  1430  was  in  truth  a  Sabbatic  year.  Between  that 
date  and  the  standard  B.C.  30  there  was  an  interval  of  200 
''Weeks  of  years," — in  other  words  Sabbatic  years — for  the 
Hebrews  applied  the  word  weeks  to  both  days  and  years.     Their 

Week  of  Days  ended  with  their  Sabbath,  and 
Week  of  Years  ended  with  the  Sabbatic  year. 


LINK  BETWEEN  OLD  AND  NEW  TESTAMENT. 

In  the  year  B.C.  538  an  Heavenly  Messenger  was  sent  to  the 
prophet  Daniel,  who  announced  that  "Seventy  Weeks" — or  490 
years — would  measure  the  time  between  the  date  of  a  certain 
''commandment"  to  restore  and  build  Jerusalem  and  the  date 
when  Messiah  would  be  cut  off  for  the  sins  of  others.  As 
this  period  far  exceeded  the  span  of  human  life,  the  prophet 
w^as  obliged,  for  the  benefit  of  subsequent  generations,  to 
commit  the  message  to  writing.  The  decree  issued  by  Cyrus, 
two  years  later,  related  only  to  the  Temple.  It  therefore  had 
nothing  to  do  w^ith  the  heavenly  message.  Eighty  years,  how- 
ever, passed  before  the  initial  date  or  starting  point  was  reached. 
Finally,  Artaxerxes  in  the  7th  year  of  his  reign,  issued  a  decree 
whose  fulfilment  satisfied  every  condition  and  under  its  pro- 


26  CHRONOLOGY   OF  THE   HOLY    BIBLE 

visions  the  Jews  returned  to  Jerusalem,  led  by  Ezra  the  Scribe — 
Ezra  7th  chapter.  After  vexatious  delays,  they  finished  the 
walls  of  the  City  in  *' troublous  times"  during  the  rule  of 
Nehemiah.     Neh.  4,  16. 

Since  Artaxerxes  began  to  reign  in  the  autumn  of  B.C.  465, 
the  7th  year  of  his  reign  (Ezra  7,  8)  extended  from  the  autumn 
of  B.C.  459  to  the  autumn  of  458.  AMiat  happened  during  the 
spring  is  recorded  in  the  book  of  Ezra,  and  if  you  will  calculate 
the  respective  dates  with  the  ''Idan  Olamin"  of  Dr.  Sossnitz 
you  will  find  that: — 

The  Jews  began  to  leave  Babylon     .      .  ^Nlarch      9th    B.C.  458 

Congregated  by  the  river  to  Ahava  .      .  "1' 

Celebrated  the  Passover 

Reached  Jerusalem July 

Pass  on  now  to  the  reign  of  the  Roman  Emperor  Tiberius 
Caesar,  which  began  on  the  19th  day  of  August  a.d.  14 — the 
moment  that  Augustus  Caesar  died — and  you  will  find  that 
"the  15th  year  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius  Caesar"  mentioned  in 
Luke  3,  1  ended  August  a.d.  29,  at  which  time  ''Jesus  himself 
(not  yet  thirty)  began  to  be  about  30  years  of  age." 

Add  to  this  his  ministry  of  3J  years  and  we  arrive  at  the 
spring  of  a.d.  33,  at  which  time  ''Messiah  was  cut  off." 

Is  it  not  evident,  therefore,  that  the  "Seventy  Weeks,"  or 
490  years,  form  a  connecting  link  between  Old  and  New 
Testament  chronology?  They  inseparably  unite  the  Passover 
of  B.C.  458  with  the  Passover  of  a.d.  33,  and  perfect  the  record. 


20 

"    458 

23 

"    458 

5 

"     458 

THE  CHRISTIAN  ERA. 

The  Jewish  calendar  says  that  the  Christian  era  began  with 
the  year  a.m.  3760,  which  corresponds  to  our  B.C.  2.  The  first 
day  of  that  year  was  August  30th  and  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles 
followed  September  13th  to  21st.  We  believe  that  about  this 
time  Christ  was  born  in  Bethlehem.     The  season  was  far  more 


THE   CHRISTIAN   ERA 


27 


suitable,  for  ''shepherds  abiding  in  the  field  keeping  watch  over 
their  flocks  by  night,"  than  the  bleak  days  of  a  first-century 
winter,  when  according  to  a  contemporary  writer,  snowstorms 
abounded  and  armies  were  obliged  to  go  into  winter  quarters. 
Our  conviction  rests  on  the  date  of  Herod's  death,  which  we 
believe  occurred  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  B.C.  1. 

To  find   this  date  correctly,  one  must  turn  first  to  secular 
history,  which  gives  the  following: 

HISTORICAL  DATES. 


Letter. 

Events. 

B.   C.    to    A.   D. 

From  the  Era. 

A 

Jerusalem  taken  by  Pompey . 

May    24th  B.C.  63 

62-t'5  years 

B 

The  "3rd  month"  in  Sabbatic 

year  37 

June              B.C.  37 

36-tV    " 

C 

Battle  of  Actium  .... 

Sept.       3rd  B.C.  31 

30-A    " 

D 

Tiberius  made  Emperor  .      . 

Aug.     19th  A.D.  14 

13-T«^      " 

E 

Completed,    "15th    year   of 

Tiberius" 

Aug.     19th  A.D.  29 

28-t'2     " 

P 

Tiberius  Caesar  died  .     .     . 

March  26th  a.d.  37 

36-A    " 

A 

62-xV 

F 

36-A 

Total  AtoF 

98-^t 

We  next  turn  to  the  Jewish  historian,  Josephus,  and  receive 
our  second  group  of  figures: — 

LENGTH  OF  REIGNS. 


Letter. 


G 
H 
J 
K 

L 
M 


Josephus. 


Antq.  20,  10,  1 
"  20,  10,  1 
"      14,  15,  4 

"      17,  18,  1 

"      18,    9,4 
"      18,    4,6 


RULER  and  KINGS. 

Hyrcanus  II,  ruled  from  B.C.  63    . 

Antigonus  reigned 

"           slain  at  Antioch  after   . 
Herod  reigned  after  slaying  Antigo- 
nus  

Interim  until  kingdom  was  divided 

Philip  reigned 

Total  G  to  M     .      .      . 


Length  of  time. 


24  yrs.  0  mos. 
3   "    3     " 
0    "    4     " 

34    "    0     " 
0   "    4     " 
37   "     0    " 
98  yrs.  11  mos. 


28  CHRONOLOGY    OF   THE    HOLY    BIBLE 

By  comparing  these  tables,  which  extend  from  B.C.  63  to 
A.D.  37,  we  find  that  in  respect  to  totals,  Josephus  and  history 
agree,  but  this  does  not  prove  that  Josephus  assigned  correct 
lengths  to  the  respective  periods.  On  the  contrary,  his  first  3 
items  overshot  the  mark  by  about  19  months. 

Thus: 

G,  H,  and  J  added  together  equals         ...     27  yrs.   7  mos. 
Less  the  difference  between  A  and  B  equals     .     26    "     0 

Excess 1  vr.     7  mos. 


The  effect  of  this  surplus  is  to  place  the  capture  of  Jerusalem 
by  Herod  and  Sosius  in  January  B.C.  35.  An  impossible  date, 
because  the  city  was  taken  in  the  ''3rd  month  of  the  1S5 
olympiad,"  and  B.C.  35  fell  in  the  186th  olympiad.  Besides, 
B.C.  35  was  not  a  ''Sabbatic  year,"  while  B.C.  37  was  so 
observed.  It  is  perfectly  evident,  therefore,  that  these  19 
months  belong  and  must  be  given  to  Herod's  reign. 

Just  a  word  about  the  item  J.  ^Yhen  Herod  had  taken 
Antigonus  prisoner,  he  sent  him  to  Antony,  who  was  encamped 
at  Antioch.  The  attention  gratified  Antony,  who  resolved 
that  Antigonus  should  grace  his  triumph  at  Rome.  Herod, 
however,  was  determined  to  have  his  enemy  put  out  of  the  way, 
so  he  "gave  Antony  a  great  deal  of  money  and  endeavored  to 
pursuade  him  to  have  Antigonus  slain."  The  negotiations 
continued  until  the  nation  of  the  Jews  became  "seditious." 
Antony  finally  yielded  and  Antigonus  was  beheaded.  After 
making  due  allowances  for  the  distance  between  the  parties 
and  the  difficulties  of  the  case,  we  have  estimated  the  time 
of  Antigonus'  incarceration  at  4  months.  This  factor  could 
not  be  left  out  of  the  problem  because  Josephus  takes  the  time 
when  Antigonus  was  slain  as  his  starting  point,  and  not  the 
time  of  his  capture. 

The  following  diagram  will  explain  the  situation  and  show 
why  Josephus  made  the  mistake  of  calling  Herod's  reign  34 
Years  instead  of  36  vears. 


THE    CHRISTIAN    ERA 

Total    99    years 


29 


Jerusalem  taken 

by  Pompey 

May  24 


B.C.  63 


.c.  35 


c.  1 


Tiberius  died 
March  26 


A.D.  37 


28  Years 

34  years 

37  Years 

Antq.  14,  15,  4 
"        20,  10,  1 

Antq.  18,  4,  6 

Antq.  17,  8,  1 

Hyrcanus  II  and 
Aristobulus 

Herod 

Philip  the  Tetrarch 

-Ti 

Jerusalem  taken  by 
Herod  and  Sosius 

We  have  then: — 

Herod  made  king  by  the  Romans, — Wars  1,18.  B.C.  40 

Herod  conquered  Jerusalem B.C.  37 

Herod  died B.C.  1 

Agrippa  succeeded  Philip a.d.  37 

Measuring   from    both  starting  points,  Herod's 
reign  covered  respectively  38 ij  yrs.  35iV  yrs. 

We  have  made  these  calculations  with  special  care,  because 
among  scholars  the  impression  is  deep-seated  that  Herod 
reigned  34  years  after  Antigonus  was  slain  and  died  in  B.C.  4. 

We  now  propose  to  show  in  round  numbers  the  correct  result 
— 36    years — by    other    computations    and    will    use    different 
landmarks  for  our  starting  point. 
First  : — 

From  beginning  of  Judas  Maccabeus'  rule  in  B.C.  163 

to  the  death  of  Tiberius  Caesar,  a.d.  37,  was    .      .     199    years 

Take  from  this  the : — 

Asmonean  dynasty  [Jos.  14,  6,  4]     .      .     126  years 
Reign  of  PhiHp  the  Tetrarch  .      .      .       37      "  163 

and  we  learn  that  herod  reigned 36    years 


30  chronology  of  the  holy  bible 

Second  : — 

From  battle  of  Actium,  Sept.  3  B.C.  31  to  the  death  of 

Tiberius  Caesar,  March  26  a.d.  37  was     .      .     .       66tV  years 

Battle  of  Actium  took  place  "in  7th  year  of  Herod's 

reign,"  [Jos.  15,  5,  2]  say 6A     " 

Total 73    years 

Take  from  this,  the: — 

Reign  of  Philip  the  Tetrarch 37 

and  we  learn  that  herod  reigned 36    years 

Further  proof  can  hardly  be  necessary.  It  will  be  observed 
that  we  dismiss  the  contentions  which  rest  for  support  on  the 
joint  rule  of  Augustus  and  Tiberius,  also  upon  the  eclipse  of 
March  13,  B.C.  4. 

The  absurdity  of  the  joint-rule  scheme,  which  selects  a.d.  11 
for  the  1st  year  of  Tiberius'  reign,  is  shown  by  the  history  of 
Philip,  who— Jos.  Antq.  18,  4,  6— died  ''in  the  20th  year  of 
Tiberius,"  in  other  words,  a.d.  31  Now  subtract  Philip's  reign 
of  37  years  and  we  find  that  Herod  must  have  died  in  B.C.  7, 
3  years  before  the  lunar  eclipse  of  March  13th  B.C.  4,  and  after 
a  reign  of  only  about  30  years. 

We  also  reject  that  eclipse,  because  it  happened  during  the 
FEAST  of  Purim,  while  Josephus  claims  that  the  eclipse  occurred 
*'the  night  before  the  fast'' — Antq.  17,  6,  4.  So  long  as  a  feast 
is  not  a  fast,  we  accept  as  standard  time  the  lunar  eclipse  of 
January  9th,  B.C.  1,  because  a  careful  calculation,  based  on 
the  Idan  Olamin  of  Dr.  Sossnitz,  will  prove  that  this  eclipse 
took  place  the  night  before  the  fast  of  Tebet,  exactly  as  stated 
in  the  text. 


JOSEPHUS  AND  CHKONOLOGY. 


HOW  TO  EEAD  JOSEPHUS. 


Beyond  all  question,  Josephus  is  a  hard  writer  to  follow 
and  many  often  feel  when  consulting  his  Works  as  though 
they  were  at  sea  without  date  or  compass.  This  defect  however 
can  be  overcome  as  Josephus  was  no  romancer,  but  at  all 
times  the  conscientious  and  upright  historian.  He  took  a 
prominent  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  first  century,  about  which 
he  wrote  as  an  eve  witness.  As  reo^ards  preceding;  as^es  he 
culled  facts  and  figures  from  the  ''Sacred  Books"  of  the  Jews, 
of  which  he  was  made  the  Custodian,  also  from  a  fine  reference 
library.  He  names  fifty  authors  found  in  that  collection.  His 
great  fault  lies  in  the  fact  that  being  an  active  man  of  affairs 
he  did  not  take  the  trouble  to  properly  review  his  own  writings, 
striking  out  conflicting  statements,  supplying  omissions,  and 
correcting  miscalculations;  he  simply  drove  ahead  and  left 
this  heritage  of  careless  composition. 

We  have  made  the  long-needed  review^  and  supplied  the 
corrections.  If  the  reader  will  make  marginal  notes  cf  our 
corrections  in  his  own  copy,  the  difficulties  of  Josephus  will 
fade  away  and  his  true  value  as  an  historian  will  be  appre- 
ciated by  all. 


(33) 


CORRECTIONS  FOR  ANTIQUITIES  OF  THE  JEWS. 


BOOK 

FOR 

READ 

Preface,  3 

5000 

4900 

3 

2000 

1500 

I       3,3 

2656 

2256 

6,  5 

292 

1063 

"       6,5 

70th 

130 

"     18,1 

After  the  death 

Before  the  death 

"     22,1 

185 

180 

II     11,  2 

Raguel 

Jethro 

V      1,  28 
"      1,  29 
"        3,3 

20th  year 
25  years 
40      " 

40th  year 
46  years 
4     " 

"       4,3 

80      " 

8    " 

"        5,4 

40      " 

4     " 

"        6,1 

3      " 

7    " 

"        6,7 

40      " 

4     " 

"        7,6 
"        7,9 
"      7,  15 
VI      5,  4 
"     13,  5 

Judge  omitted 
300  years 
Judge  omitted 
18  years 
12     " 

{Insert)  Tola  23  years 

200  years 

{Insert)  Abdon  8  years 

20  years 

39     " 

"     13,  5 

18     " 

38     " 

"      14,  9 

18     " 

38     " 

"      14,  9 
VII    3,2 

2  [and  20]  years 
515  years 

2     " 
397     " 

"     15,  3 

1300     " 

865     " 

VIII  3,  1 

592     " 

479     " 

"     "  " 

1020     " 

909     " 

i(            U     11 

1440     " 

2047     " 

t(      11  ii 

3102      " 

4302     " 

"     7,8 
''  12,  3 

Reigned  80  years 
"        24     " 

Reigned  40  years 
"       23     " 

"    "    4 

u          2     " 

1      " 

"     "   5 

12     " 

11     " 

"  13,  1 

"        22     " 

a            21       " 

(34) 


HOW  TO   READ   JOSEPHUS 


35 


BOOK 

FOR 

READ 

IX 

2,1 
3,2 
5,3 

Reigned    2  years 
25     " 

8     " 

Reigned  1  year 
"       23  years 
6     " 

(( 

8,1 

27    " 

"      29     " 

<( 

"  5 

21st  year 

23rd  year 

" 

(<  <t 

17  years 

14  years 

(( 

9,3 
10,  1.3 

Reigned  29  years 
40     " 

Reigned  14  years 

38     " 

li 

''      3 

In  the  14th  year 

In  the  1st  year 

n 

11,1 

20  years 

29  years 

" 

12,3 

Reigned  16  years 

Reigned  15  years 

" 

14,1 

947  years 

756  years 

(( 

a      11 

800     " 

670     " 

X 

1,1 

In  the  14th  year 

In  the  28th  year 

(( 

4,4 

361  years 

1 

338  years 

(( 

8,4 

514      "6  months,  1 

day 

455     " 

<( 

<<   (( 

Government  20  years 

40     " 

<( 

8  5 

Burnt  470,  6  mos. 

,10 

days 

412     " 

<( 

<(  li 

1062  years,  6    " 

10 

(C 

891     " 

<< 

<(   (( 

1957      "     6    " 

10 

" 

2459     " 

(( 

((   <( 

3513     "     6    " 

10 

l( 

4714     " 

(I 

9,7 

130     "     6    " 

10 

(I 

135     " 

(I 

11,2 

Reign  of  18  years 

2     " 

u 

a      (( 

a          u    4Q       u 

4    " 

" 

"    4 

360  provinces 

120  provinces 

" 

,  7 

1296  days 

1290  days 

XI 

3,2 

4,  7 

127  provinces 
7  years 
9th  year 
23rd  day 

120  provinces 
5  years 
6th  year 
3rd  day 

(( 

"  8 

532  years,  6  mos. 

10 

days 

495  years 

(I  11 
5,  1 

500     " 
Esdras 

356     " 
Ezra 

(( 

5  chap. 

Xerxes 

Artaxerxes 

36 


HOW  TO    READ    JOSEPHUS 


BOOK 

FOR 

READ 

XI 

5,  4 

Tebeth 

Chisleu 

" 

"   7 

2oth  year 

20th  year 

(( 

"  8 

2  years,  4  months 

4  months 

" 

C(        ii 

28th  year 

20th  year 

"     6 

chap. 

Artaxerxes 

Xerxes 

XII 

7,6 

154th  Olympiad 

153rd  Olympiad 

" 

li  li 

408  years 

370  years 

" 

11,2 

3^   " 

146th  to  149th  year.     (Seleu) 

XIII 

2,3 

4      " 

7  years,  6  months 

" 

6,  6 

4      " 

7  yrs.  one  dynasty  3  in  another 

" 

8,2 

162nd  Olympiad 

161st  Olympiad 

(( 

11,1 

4811  years 

432  years 

XIV 

1,2 

3rd  year,  177th  Olympiad 

2nd  year,  178th  Olympiad 

(< 

8,5 

Hyrc.  to  be  high  priest 

Hyrc.  II.  to  be  high  priest 

u 

a    a 

9th  year  Hyrcanus 

9th  year  Hyrcanus  I 

(I 

9,2 

15  years  of  age 

18  years  of  age 

tl 

16,4 

"o/the  Fast  as  if" 

Solemnity  of  the  Feast 

" 

((    (( 

27  years 

26  years 

XV 

6,4 

'      40  '   " 

23"  " 

XVII 

6,3 

125     " 

126     " 

a 

"  4 

Date  of  Eclipse 

January  9th,  B.C.  1 

il 

8,1 

34  years 

35^  years 

11 

a    it 

Oi 

381*" 

XVIII,  2,  1 

Conclusion 

Began  in  37th  ;    ended  in  40th 

(( 

4,  G 

20th  year 

23rd  year 

u 

6,  10 

5  months,  3  days 

7  months,  8  days 

XIX 

-,•5 

4       " 

2       " 

XX 

10,1 

612  years 

479  years 

(( 

"    " 

466     "      6  mos.,  10  davs 

412^   " 

" 

U         i( 

414     " 

373     " 

" 

U        ti 

Jacimus 

Judas  3  years,  Jacimus  1  year 

" 

a      a 

]\Iaccabean  high  priest 

Xo  high  priest  7  years 

" 

a       " 

Jonathan's  reign 

7  yrs  one  dynasty,  3  yrs  another 

'* 

10,1 

Hyrcanus  30  years 

Hyrcanus  31  years 

It 

((     (( 

As  many  months 

6  months 

a 

((     (( 

24  years  more 

22  years,  9  months 

i( 

ce      (( 

107  years 

106  years 

11,  2 

2000"^   " 

1546   " 

CORRECTIONS  FOR  JEWISH  WAR. 


BOOK 

FOR 

READ 

Preface      7 

3  years,  3  months 

3  years 

I 

1,1 

3      "      6       " 

a        ii 

<c 

2,8 

33  entire  years 

31      " 

(( 

3,1 

471 1  years 

432     " 

a 

10,4 

Very  young 

18     "     old 

" 

33,8 

34  years 

35|    " 

" 

a      a 

37      " 

38^    " 

II 

7,3 

9th  year 

10th  year 

'' 

10,5 

6  months,  3  days 

7  months,  8  days 

ii 

11,1 

8       " 

9       "       29     " 

V 

9,4 

3  years,  6  months 

3  years 

VI 

4,5 

10th  day  of  Ab. 

August  5th  A.D.  70 

" 

"  8 

1 1 30  years,  7  mos.  1 5  days 

1067  years,  4  months 

(( 

H      ii 

639      "     1    "     15    " 

605      " 

<< 

10,1 

2nd  year,  8th  day 

Sept.  2nd  A.D.  70 

ii 

a      a 

1468  years,  6  months 

1321  years 

ii 

ii      i( 

477      "      6       " 

455      " 

ii 

li      ii 

1179  years 

1110      " 

it 

2177     " 

1976      " 

CORRECTIONS  FOR  APION. 


BOOK 

FOR 

READ 

I                      1 

5000,  years 

5370  years 

8 

3000      " 

3864      " 

19 

70      " 

50      " 

a 

29      " 

21      " 

21 

ISth  year 

19th  year 

<i                       a 

2nd    "     of  Cyrus 

2nd    "     of  Darius 

a                      it 

"      "      "  Darius 

6th     "     "        " 

II               2 

612  years 

479  years 

(37) 


BIBLE  CHEONOLOGY. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES 


The  most  reliable  data,  extending  from  Adam  to  Terah,  the 
father  of  Abraham,  gives  the  following  dates: 

Adam b.c.  5300 

The  Flood b.c.  3045 

Confusion  of  tongues        .....  b.c.  2633 

Birth  of  Terah b.c.  2112 

Thus  far,  Bible  chronology  can  only  be  classed  as  approxi- 
mate, simply  because  different  opinions  may  be  held  regarding 
the  weight  of  evidence  found  in  the  various  texts — Hebrew, 
Septuagint,  Samaritan,  and  the  text  of  Josephus.  But,  from 
Terah,  the  father  of  Abraham,  onward  to  the  time  when 
Nebuchadnezzar  destroyed  the  Temple,  and  chronology  con- 
nects with  modern  history,  the  periods  are  exact  and  the  events 
follow  each  other  in  perfect  order.  The  reason  for  this  is  found 
in  the  fact  that  the  Bible  has  spanned  this  great  stream  of  time 
by  four  arches  of  known  length. 

Span  1.  Life  of  Terah    ....     205  years.  Gen.  xi.  32 

Span  2.  From  Promise  to  Exodus       430     "        Exod.  xii.  41 

Span  3.  From  Exodus  to  Temple        479     "        1  Kings  vi.  1 

Span  4.  Temple  building  to  burning  412     "        Kings,  495-83  years. 


Total  width  1526  years. 


In  the  matter  of  patriarchal  birth-dates,  we  give  preference 
to  the  figures  of  Josephus,  because  Vespasian  made  him 
custodian  of  the  '*  Sacred  Books"  which  Titus  captured  in 
Jerusalem  and  carried  in  triumph  to  Rome.  These  books 
were  spread  out  before  Josephus  when  he  wrote  his  "Antiqui- 

(41) 


42 


BIBLE    CHRONOLOGY 


ties  of  the  Jews,"  consequently  his  ^Yritings  are  the  latest  and 
best  testimony  we  have  as  to  the  contents  of  those  official 
volumes.  Furthermore,  the  birth-periods  of  the  patriarchs  as 
given  by  him,  run  in  unison  with  patriarchal  ages  and  are  free 
from  those  irregularities  which  characterize  the  Hebrew  text. 
There  is  reason  to  believe  that  human  life  matured  in  those 
days  very  much  as  it  does  now.  With  them  a  man  was  counted 
old  at  900  years  of  age,  just  as  a  man  of  90  years  is  regarded  at 
the  present  day.  If  then  the  man  of  900  had  a  son  at  200  years, 
the  man  of  90  would  be  expected  to  have  a  son  at  20  years. 
All  of  which  seems  perfectly  natural,  besides  it  harmonizes 
with  the  figures  that  Josephus  copied  out  of  the  "  Sacred  Books." 

As  to  Nahor,  the  Hebrew  text  says  he  was  29  years  old  when 
Terah  was  born.  The  Samaritan  says  79  years,  while  copies 
of  the  Septuagint  range  from  79  to  179  years.  Josephus  is 
silent.  In  this  case  alone,  we  are  compelled  to  take  independent 
action.  We  are  reminded  that  Terah  himself  was  130  years  old 
when  Abraham  was  born,  and  since  in  the  majority  of  instances 
Josephus'  figures  exceed  those  of  the  Hebrew  text  by  100  years, 
we  shall  follow  his  example  and  place  the  age  of  Nahor  when 
Terah  was  born  at  129  years.  According:  to  the  Hebrew  text 
Arphaxad  was  born  2  years  after  the  Flood,  Josephus  says  12 
years.  The  latter  number  is  by  far  the  most  probable  because 
Arphaxad  was  not  the  eldest  son  of  Shem,  on  the  contrary  he 
was  his  third  son  born  after  the  Flood. 

We  shall  now  turn  our  attention  to  the  great  stream  of  time 
that  ran  between  Terah  and  the  destruction  of  the  Temple. 

Only  one  point  in  this  span  requires  special  atten- 
SPAN  No.  1  tion.  When  Terah  died  at  205  vears  of  a^e  his  son 
Abraham  was  75  years  old,  consequently  Terah  was 
130  years  old  when  Abraham  was  born.  INIany  infer  from 
Gen.  xi.  26  that  Terah  was  70  years  old,  but  manifestly  such 
was  not  the  case. 

Jacob's  descent    into    Egypt  was    the    Half-way 
SPAN  No.  2     Station   in   ''the    sojournings   of   the   children   of 
Israel." 


BIBLE    CHRONOLOGY  43 


From  the  Promise  to  Isaac  was    ...      25  years. 
From  birth  of  Isaac  to  Jacob  was      .      .      60       " 
From  Jacob  to  descent  into  Egypt  was      130      " 


215  years. 
From  arrival  in  Egypt  to  death  of  Joseph     71  years. 
Years  of  oppression  in  Egypt     ....    144      "       215  years. 


Total,  [Exod.  xii.  41]     .      .      .     430  years. 


Many  writers  have  taken  the  ground  that  the  Bible 
SPAN  No.  3    length  for  this  span  is  far  too  small.    Some  make  it 

573  years,  while  others  place  the  figures  as  high  as 
680.  Not  one  of  them,  however,  is  right.  They  have  all  lost 
sight  of  the  fact  that  the  Bible  length — 479  years — stated  in 
I  Kings  vi.  1  contemplated  generations  of  the  same  length  as 
obtained  in  the  life  of  the  patriarchs  Abraham  and  Jacob. 

This  last  span  is  found  by  laying  out  the  reigns 
SPAN  No.  4    of  the  kings  of  Judah  and  Israel,  with  due  regard 

to  the  locking-dates  given  in  the  1st  and  the  2nd 
book  of  Kings. 

The  period  so  determined  equals 495  years. 

{Reign  of  Saul      ....     40  years. 
Reign  of  David  ....     40       " 
To  building  of  Temple    .      .       3       "         83       " 

From  Temple  building  to  burning     .      .      .      .     412  years. 

Whence  it  appears  that  the   material  composing   Hebrew    chronology 
may  be  classified  as  follows: — 

textual: — 

From  Adam  to  Terah 3189  years 

EXACT  AND    BEYOND    QUESTION: — 

Life  of  Terah 205 

Promise  to  Exodus  ...  .     430 

Exodus  to  Temple 479 

Temple  building  to  burning     .      .412 

To  Christian  Era 585     2111  years 

Total    5300  years 


BIBLE  CHEONOLOGY. 


B.C. 

Years. 

Totals. 

From  Adam  to  Seth 

5300  to  5071 

230-^ 

•■3  a/ 

Birth  of  Seth  to  birth  of  Enos       .      .      .      . 

5071  to  4866 

205 

Birth  of  Enos  to  birth  of  Cainan  .... 

4866  to  4676 

190 

-'  ■ 

Birth  of  Cainan  to  birth  of  Mahalaleel     .      . 

4676  to  4506 

170 

Birth  of  Mahalaleel  to  birth  of  Jared       .      . 

4506  to  4341 

165 

Birth  of  Jared  to  birth  of  Enoch  .... 

4341  to  4179 

162 

Birth  of  Enoch  to  birth"  of  Methusalah    . 

4179  to  4014 

165 

Birth  of  Methusalah  to  birth  of  Lamech 

4014  to  3827 

187 

Birth  of  Lamech  to  birth  of  Noah 

3827  to  3645 

182 

Birth  of  Noah  to  the  Flood 

^645  to  3045 

600 

Adam  to  Flood 

3045  to  3044 

2256 

The  Flood 

1 

The  Flood  to  birth  of  Arphaxad   .... 

3044  to  3032 

12 

Birth  of  Arphaxad  to  birth  of  Salah  . 

3032  to  2897 

135 

Birth  of  Salah  to  birth  of  Eber     .... 

2897  to  2767 

130 

Birth  of  Eber  to  birth  of  Peleg     .... 

2767  to  2633 

134 

The  Confusion  of  Tongues 

B.C.     2633 

Flood  to  Babel 

412 

Birth  of  Peleg  to  birth  of  Reu       .... 

2633  to  2503 

130 

Birth  of  Reu  to  birth  of  Serug      .... 

2503  to  2373 

130 

Birth  of  Serug  to  birth  of  Nahor  .... 

2373  to  2241 

132 

The  death  of  Eber,  father  of  Hebrews     .      . 

2303 

Birth  of  Nahor  to  birth  of  Terah  .... 

2241  to  2112 

129 

Babel  to  Terah     . 

521 

Birth  of  Terah  to  birth  of  Abraham  .      .      . 

2112  to  1982 

130 

Birth  of  Abraham  to  the  Promise 

1982  to  1907 

75 

SPAN  No.  1     . 

1907  to  1882 

205 

The  Promise  to  birth  of  Isaac       .... 

25 

Birth  of  Isaac  to  birth  of  Jacob    .... 

1882  to  1822 

60 

Birth  of  Jacob  to  birth  of  Joseph       .      .      . 

1822  to  1731 

91 

Birth  of  Joseph  to  descent  into  Egypt     . 

1731  to  1692 

39 

Arrival  in  Egypt  to  death  of  Joseph  . 

1692  to  1621 

71 

Years  of  Oppression  in  Egypt       .... 

1621  to  1477 

144 

SPAN  No   2 

430 

■t^  ^    A*  A1         AY  \/  •      *i 

3824 

(45) 


46 


BIBLE   CHRONOLOGY 


The  birth  of  Aaron 

The  birth  of  Moses 

Moses  fled  from  Egypt 

The  birth  of  Caleb 

The  Exodus  From  Egypt 

People  rebeUecl;  death  sentences   .      .      .      . 

The  death  of  Aaron 

The  death  of  INIoses 

Israel  in  the  Wilderness 

Israel  crossed  the  Jordan 

The  land  divided 

The  rule  of  Joshua 

The  Elders  and  "No  king" 

Servitude  in  Mesopotamia 

Othniel  1st  Judge 

Servitude  to  ]\Ioabites 

Ehud  2nd  Judge 

Shamgar  3rd  Judge 

Servitude  to  Canaanites 

Deborah  4th  Judge 

Servitude  to  IMidianites 

Gideon  5th  Judge 

Abimelech  6th  Judge 

Tola  7th  Judge 

History  of  Boaz  and  Ruth 

Jair  8th  Judge 

Servitude  to  Ammonites 

Jephthah  9th  Judge 

Ibzan  10th  Judge 

Elon  nth  Judge 

Abdon  12th  Judge 

J  Servitude  to  Philistines "t 

I  Samson  13th  Judge / 

Eh  14th  Judge 

Samuel  15th  Judge 

Saul  1st  King 

Sabbatic  periods  neglected,  ii  Chron.,  36,  21. 

David  2nd  King 

Temple  begun,  4th  year  of  Solomon  . 

SPAN  No.  3     . 

Solomon  (3  +  37  =  40  yrs.) 

Kingdom  divided 


B.C. 

Years. 

1561 

1557 

1517 

1516 

1477 

1475 

1438 

1437 

1477  to  1437 

40 

1437 

1431 

1437  to  1391 

46 

1391  to  1371 

20 

1371  to  1363 

8 

1363  to  1359 

4 

1359  to  1341 

18 

1341  to  1334 

7 

1334  to  1333 

1 

1333  to  1313 

20 

1313  to  1309 

4 

1309  to  1302 

7 

1302  to  1298 

4 

1298  to  1295 

3 

1295  to  1272 

23 

-1140- 

1272  to  1250 

22 

1250  to  1231 

19 

1231  to  1225 

6 

1225  to  1218 

7 

1218  to  1208 

10 

1208  to  1200 

8 

1200  to  1180 

20 

1180  to  1160 

20 

1160  to  1120 

40 

1120  to  1081 

39 

1081  to  1041 

40 

1080  to  590 

1041  to  1001 

40 

1001  to  998 

3 

998  to  961 

37 

961 

BIBLE    CHRONOLOGY 


47 


JUDAH. 


Rehoboam 

Abijah   . 
Asa  . 


Jehoshaphat 

[died  B.C.  875] 


Jehoram 
Ahaziah 


Queen  Athaliah 
Joash 


Amaziah  [died  b.c.  795] 
Uzziah      [died  B.C.  743] 


Jotham 
Ahaz 


ISRAEL. 


Jeroboam  I 


Nadab  

Baasha       .... 
Elah  [Zimri  =  7  days] 
Tibni  and  Omri     . 
Omri,  alone 
Ahab 


Ahaziah   [died  b.c.  876] 
Joram 


Jehu 


Jehoahaz 
Jehoash 


Jeroboam  II    .      .      . 
Zachariah  and  Shallum 
IVIenahem   .... 
Pekahiah    .... 
Pekah  


Hoshea 

Israel  carried  to  Assyria 


Hezekiah 

Manasseh 

Amon 

Josiah 

Jehoahaz  (counted  with  Jehoiachin) 

Jehoiakim 

Daniel  and  princes  taken  to  Babylon 

Babylonian  captivity 

Jehoiachin 

Zedekiah's  reign 

SPAN  No.  4 


B.C 

961  to 
961  to 
943  to 
941  to 
939  to 
938  to 
915  to 
914  to 
909  to 
903  to 
899  to 
882  to 
881  to 
876  to 
870  to 
869  to 
869  to 
863  to 
840  to 
826  to 
824  to 
810  to 
810  to 
772  to 
771  to 
761  to 
759  to 
757  to 
742  to 
730  to 
721 
727  to 
698  to 
642  to 
640  to 
609 
609  to 
606 
606  to 
598  to 
597  to 


Years. 

943 

37 
18 

939 

941 

2 

899 

42 

938 

915 

914 

909 

908 

882 

876 

23 

881 

869 

870 

6 

869 

1 

840 

863 

6 

824 

39 

826 

810 

810 

14 

757 

53 

772 

771 

761 

759 

730 

742 

15 

727 

15 

721 

698 

29 

642 

56 

640 

2 

609 

31 

598 

11 

536 

597 

1 

586 

11 

48 


BIBLE    CHRONOLOGY 


B.C. 

Years. 

Totals. 

Israel  rejected  (Ezek.  xx.  3) 

590 

4715 

Divine  indignation 

590  to  520 

Temple  burnt  by  Nebuchadnezzar 

586 

No  Temple  Service 

585  to  515 

70 

Death  of  Nebuchadnezzar 

562 

Cyrus  made  King  of  Persia 

558 

Belshazzar 

541  to  538 

Cyrus  took  Babylon 

538 

Darius  the  Mede 

538  to  536 

Jews  liberated  by  Cyrus 

536 

Darius  Hystaspes 

521  to  485 

Zerubbabel's  Temple  begun 

520 

Probation,  followed  by  Indignation    .      .      . 

520  to  450 

Zerubbabel's  Temple  finished 

515 

Zerubbabel's  to  Nehemiah's  Temple  . 

515  to  445 

70 

Xerxes  king  of  Persia 

485  to  465 

Esther,  queen  of  Persia 

478  to  472 

Artaxerxes  king  of  Persia 

465  to  425 

r  Exodus  of  Jews  from  Persia,  before  Passover 

458 

-  "  SEVENTY  WEEKS  "  of  Daniel  =  490  years 

.  Passover  B.C.  458  to  Passover  a.d.  33  =  490 

Temple  restored  by  Nehemiah       .... 

445 

From  Temple  to  death  of  Artaxerxes 

445  to  425 

20 

Nehemiah  ruled  as  Governor 

445  to  433 

Last  date  given  in  Old  Testament 

433 

History  foretold  by  Daniel  xi.  chap. 

425  to  163 

262 

Persia  conquered  at  Cunaxa 

401 

Persia  conquered  by  Alexander    .... 

331 

ERA    OF   SELEUCIDAE    COMMENCED. 

B}'  Greek  standard,  October  1st  B.C.    . 

312 

By  Bab3-lonian  standard,  jNIarch  b.c.    . 

311 

By  Josephus'  standard,  October  1st  b.c.     . 

312 

.  By  I  and  II  Maccabees'  October  1st  b.c.  . 

312 

Defeat  of  \he  Carthagenians 

202 

f  Temple  despoiled,  Nov.  27th     .... 

168 

'  Asmonean  Dynasty 

163  to    37 

. ''  Feast  of  Lights  "  Nov.  25th    .... 

165 

Judas  Maccabeus,  high  priest        .... 

163  to  160 

3 

No  Asmonean  high  priest  (Alcimus)  . 

160  to  153 

7 

Jonathan  Maccabeus,  high  priest 

153  to  143 

10 

Simon,  Captain 

145  to  143 

Simon,  high  priest 

143  to  135 

8 

450 

4715 

BIBLE    CHRONOLOGY 


49 


Independence  Day,  May  4th 

John  Hyrcanus,  high  priest      .... 

Judas  Aristobulus,  king 

Alexander  Janneus,  king 

Queen  Alexandra 

Birth  of  Herod  the  Great    ..... 

Hyrcanus  II  and  Aristobulus  .... 

Jerusalem  taken  by  Pompey,  May  24th  . 
Hyrcanus  II        ........ 

Herod  made  Governor  ...... 

Antigonus 

Herod  made  King 

Herod  captured  Jerusalem       .... 

Herod  reigned 

Battle  of  Actium,  Sept.  3rd     .... 

First  year  of  famine 

The  Sanctuary  dedicated 

Birth  of  king  Agrippa 

Alexander  and  Aristobulus  slain  . 

Christ  born  in  Bethlehem 

Death  of  Herod 

To  Christian  Era 

Zedekiah  to  A.D.  1 


B.C 

Years. 

141 

450 

135  to  104 

31 

104  to  103 

1 

103  to 

76 

27 

76  to 

67 

9 

71 

67  to 

63 

4 

63 

63  to 

40 

23 

54 

40  to 

37 

3 

40 

37 

37  to 

1 

36 

31 

24 

18 

10 

4 

2 

1 

1 

Totals. 

4715 


585 


Total  number  of  years    5300 


From  this  total  of  years  it  is  evident  that  the  history  of  our 
race,  according  to  the  Hebrew  system  of  chronology,  began 
with  the  year  b.c.  5300. 


ISEAEL  AND  CHEONOLOGY. 


ON  THE  EOAD  TO  CANAAN. 


One  is  apt  to  think  of  Israel  as  spending  40  years  on  the 
road  to  Canaan  and  lose  sight  of  the  fact,  that  39  of  those  years 
were  spent  in  camp,  while  only  one  year  was  consumed  in 
covering  their  entire  journey  of  1100  miles  between  Rameses 
and  the  river  Jordan.  The  Bible  record  is  complete  as  to 
the  route  followed,  but  the  history  of  their  journey  is  scattered 
through  half  a  dozen  different  books,  the  record  changing  back 
and  forth  from  one  place  to  another  nearly  100  times.  We 
have  assembled  this  data  and  illustrated  the  route  by  an 
itinerary  map.  In  order  to  bring  out  the  names  of  places 
with  greater  clearness  we  have  omitted  the  mountain  ranges 
and  gorges,  but  in  plotting  the  line  of  march  both  their  location 
and  the  gradients  overcome  have  been  carefully  taken  into  the 
account,  hence  the  course  shown  is  topographically  correct. 

Israel's  journey  may  be  divided  into  three  sections,  viz: — 
Rameses  to  Sinai,  thence  to  Kadesh,  and  finally  to  the  crossing 
of  the  Jordan.  They  tarried  11  months  at  Sinai  and  38  years 
at  Kadesh. 

We  find  that  in  Bible  geography  as  in  Bible  chronology,  a 
golden  thread  of  logical  sequence  binds  all  together  and 
proclaims  a  Divine  origin. 


(53) 


ISRAEL'S  ITINERARY. 


REFERENCES 

NAMES    OF   PLACES 

DATES 

s   OF  ARRIVAL 

MILES 

Exodus  12,  37 
Num.     33,  5 
Exod.     15, 22 

Left  Rameses — "zo-AN." 
Arrival  at  Succoth 
Etham,  or  Shur 

B.C.  1477 

,  April  19th 
April 

30 

" 

14,    9 

Pi-hahiroth 

" 

(( 

42 

u 

"  15 
15,22 

Crossed  the  Red  Sea 
Wilderness  of  Shur 

it 

probably  May 

" 

"  23 

Marah 

(( 

u 

47 

" 

"  27 

Elim 

" 

" 

Num. 

33,10 

"By  the  Red  Sea" 

<i 

(( 

28 

Exod. 

16,    1 

Wilderness  of  Sin 

li 

May  19th 

Num. 

33,12 
"  13 

Dophkak  .  .  .  camped 
Alush 

May 

i( 

Exod. 

17,    1 
19,    2 

Rephidim              " 
Desert  of  Sinai 

(I 

(( 

i( 

"     1 

Arrived  at  Mt.  Sinai 

" 

June  3rd 

82 

Num. 

10,11 

11,    3 

"  34 

Left                 "      " 
1  Taberah  . . .  camped 
1  Kibroth-hattaavah 

B.C.  147C 

),  May  12th 
"      15th 
month  of  June 

^^ 

"  35 

12,16 

Hazeroth 
Wilderness  of  Paran 

<< 

probably  June 

: 

33,18 
"  19 
"  20 

Rithmah  . . .  camped 

Rimmon-parez 

Libnah 

(I 

" 

"  21 

Rissah 

a 

" 

" 

"  22 

Kehelathah 

i( 

" 

(< 

"  23 
"  24 

Mt.  Shapher 
Haradah 

ii 

u 

K 

"  25 

Makhaloth 

(I 

u 

<( 
(I 

"  26 

"  27 
"  28 
"  29 

Jahath  . . .  camped 
Tarah 
jNIithcah 
Hashmonah 

<( 

probably  July 
(I 

"  30 

Moseroth  . .  .  camped 

« 

(( 

Total.    229 


(55) 


s- 


/^ 


<$> 


52- 


^. 


«. 


ISEAEL'S  ITINERARY. 


REFERENCES 

NAMES    OF    PLACES 

DATES 

OF  ARRIVAL 

MILES 

Exodus  12,  37 

Left  Rameses — "zoan." 

B.C.  1477 

,  April  19th 

Num. 

33,5 

Arrival  at  Succoth 

April 

30 

Exod. 

15,  22 

Etham,  or  Shur 

it 

" 

14,    9 

Pi-hahiroth 

" 

42 

: 

"  15 
15,22 

Crossed  the  Red  Sea 
Wilderness  of  Shur 

probably  May 

" 

"  23 

Marah 

" 

47 

" 

"  27 

Elim 

" 

Num. 

33,10 

"By  the  Red  Sea" 

" 

28 

Exod. 

IG,    1 

Wilderness  of  Sin 

May  19th 

Num. 

33,12 
"  13 

Dophkak  .  .  .  camped 
Alush 

May 

Exod. 

17,    1 
19,    2 

Rephidim 
Desert  of  Sinai 

cc 

" 

"     1 

Arrived  at  Mt.  Sinai 

June  3rd 

82 

Num. 

10,  11 

Left                "      " 

B.C.  147e 

),  May  12th 

11,    3 
"  34 

1  Taberah  . . .  camped 
1  Kibroth-hattaavah 

"      15th 
month  of  June 

i( 

"  35 

12,16 

Hazeroth                   " 
Wilderness  of  Paran 

probably  June 

(( 

33,18 

Rithmah  . . .  camped 

" 

u 

"  19 
"  20 

Rimmon-parez 
Libnah 

a 

" 

"  21 

Rissah 

" 

u 

"  22 

Kehelathah 

" 

ii 
ii 

"  23 

"  24 

Mt.  Shapher 
Haradah 

a 

It 

"  25 

Makhaloth 

<< 

u 

"  26 

"  27 

Jahath  . . .  camped 
Tarah 

probably  July 

" 

"  28 

Mithcah 

(< 

" 

"  29 

Hashmonah 

11 

t( 

"  30 

Moseroth  . .  .  camped 

t( 

Total, 

229 

(55) 


56 


ISRAEL  S   ITINERARY 


REFERENCES 

NAMES   OF  PLACES 

DATES   OF  ARRIVAL 

MILES 

229 

Num. 

33,31 
"  32 

Bene-jaakan 
Hor-hagidgad 

B.C.  1476,  probably  July 

(< 

"  33 

Jotbathah 

K                                                       (( 

(( 

"  34 

Ebronah        camped 

((                                  il 

(C 

"  35 

Ezion-gaber       " 

((                                 11 

116 

Judges 

11,16 

The  Red  Sea  to  Kadesh 

u 

97 

Num. 

13,20 
"    21 

Wilderness  of  Paran,  or 
Zin 

B.C.  1476,  month  of  July 

86 

"     20,  1,  22 

"People  abode    in 

"    1475,  March  12th 

Joshua 

24,    7 

Kadesh" 

Deu. 

1,46 

[Ayn  Qadees.] 

"      2 

,    1,14 

Left  Kadesh  after  38  yrs. 

B.C.  1438,  month  of  July 

" 

10,    6 

Beeroth 

(I         (I             it 

Num. 

33,37 

Mosera,  facing  Mt.  Hor* 

"     July  20th 

,  Deu. 

10,    7 

Gudgodah 

"     August  20th 

(( 

"     7 

Jotbath 

"     probably  Aug. 

Judges 

1,17 

Hormah  or  Zephath 

"                        " 

40 

Num. 

21,    3 

Deu. 

2,    8 

Plain,    or    Way    of   the 
Arabah 

"     probably  Sept. 

102 

■(( 

"     8 

Wilderness  of  Moab 

Num. 

33,41 

Zalmonah 

56 

" 

"  42 

Punon 

" 

21,10 

Oboth 

" 

"  11 

Ije-abarim 

Deu. 

1,    1 

Tophel 

Num. 

21,12 

Valley  of  Zared 

Deu. 

2,26 

Wilderness  of  Kedemoth 

87 

Num. 

21,14 

Brooks  of  Arnon 

(( 

"  16 

Beer 

(C 

"  IS 

Mattanah 

" 

"  19 

Nahaliel 

(( 

"  19 

Bamoth 

Deu. 

(I 

2,  32 
4,43 

Jahaz 

Bezer — city  of  refuge 

Joshua 

13,    9 

Areor 

27 

*Jebel  Madurah. 


Total,     840 


ISRAEL  S   ITINERARY 


REFERENCES 

NAMES    OF   PLACES 

DATES  OF  ARRIVAL 

MILES 

840 

Joshua 

13,17 

Dibon 

B.C.  1438,  probably  Sept. 

Num. 

32,    3 

Ataroth 

a                                t( 

" 

33,46 

Ahiion-diblathaim 

ic                                << 

Josh. 

13,    9 

Medeba 

i(                                (< 

a 

..  17 

Baal-meon 

ii                                (( 

Num. 

33,47 

Mts.  of  Abarim,  Nebo 

a                                  (( 

" 

21,25 

Heshbon 

"    probably  Oct. 

25 

" 

32,37 

Elealah 

(c                                 a 

" 

21,32 

Jaazer 

li                                 li 

" 

32,35 

Jogbehah 

" 

21,33 

Edrei 

it                                 It 

68 

Josh. 

13,31 

Ashtaroth 

li                                 it 

Deu. 

4,43 

Golan — city  of  refuge 

It                                 ti 

" 

3,    4 

60  cities  of  Bashan 

it                                  if 

c 

^    8,   9 

((               li 

It                                 if 

" 

4,48 

Mt.  Hermon 

a                                 li 

Num. 

32,42 

Kenath 

It                                 It 

Deu. 

3,10 

Salchah 

It                                 it 

102 

Josh. 

13,26 

Mahanaim 

"     probably  Nov. 

56 

Deu. 

3,16 

River  Jabbok 

((                      It 

24 

Josh. 

13,27 

Succoth  and  Zaphon 

It                      it 

Deu. 

4,43 

Ramoth-gilead — city  of 

a                                it 

11 

1  Kin. 

22,3 

refuge 

it                                t 

Josh. 

13,26 

Betonim 

ft                                ti 

Num. 

32,36 

Beth-nimrah 

a                                 ii 

Josh. 

13,27 

Beth-aram 

n                                        tl 

Num. 

33,  49 

Beth-jeshimoth 

it                                 it 

(( 

"  50 

Plains  of  Moab 

it                                 tt 

u 

25,    1 

Shittim 

"      Winter 

Deu. 

4,46 

Beth-peor 

it           it 

Josh. 

3,14 

Crossed  the  Jordan 

B.C.  1437,  March  21st 

24 

<( 

4,19 

Gilgal  taken 

a                tt 

Total, 

1150 

ASSYRIA  AND  CHRONOLOGY. 


TESTIMONY  OF  THE  MONUMENTS. 

The  question  naturally  arises,  how  do  these  dates  given  in 
Bible  Chronology  compare  with  the  latest  results  of  archaeo- 
logical research?  —  We  answer,  the  earliest  inscriptions  go 
back  to  the  year  B.C.  5000 — see  First  of  Empires,  by  Boscawen 
— Bible  Chronology  places  Adam  at  the  year  B.C.  5300.  ^  ^  53oo 

Prof.  Robert  W.  Rogers,  the  noted  x^merican  authority  on 
Assyriology,  has  discovered  that  the  2nd  dynasty  of  Babylon 
forms  no  part  of  a  continuous  record,  consequently  the  events 
of  the  3rd  dynasty  follow  immediately  after  those  of  the  first. 
As  a  sequence,  he  has  found  that  the  great  law-giver, 
Hammurabi,  the  Amraphel  of  Gen.  xiv,  was  a  contemporary 
of  the  patriarch  Abraham;  and  he  states,  ''provisionally  and 
subject  to  later  and  more  exact  calculation  of  other  factors" 
that  Abraham's  call  came  in  B.C.  1915. 

By  Bible  Chronology  we  find  that  the  Call  was  made  and 
the  promise  given  to  Abraham  in  the  year  B.C.  1907.  b.c  1907 

Prof.  Albert  T.  Clay,  in  his  recent. work  Light  on  the  Old 
Testament  from  Babel,  gives  reasons  for  believing  that  Thothmes 
III  was  the  Pharaoh  of  the  Oppression  and  his  successor,  Ameno- 
phis  II,  the  Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus.  His  calculations  have  led 
h:m  to  believe  that  Amenophis  II  began  to  reign  in  B.C.  1449, 
while  other  authorities  place  the  coronation  at  an  earlier  date, 
viz. — B.C.  1550. 

Bible  Chronology  states  that  the  Exodus  took  place  B.C.  1477.    b.c.  1477 
It  also  states  that  Saul  was  made  king  in  the  year  B.C.  1081;    b.c.  losi 
that  the  kingdom  was  divided  by  the  rebellion  of  Jeroboam  I 
in  the  year  B.C.  961,  and  that  the  Temple  was  despoiled  by    b.c.  961 
Shishak  in   956.     The  year  911   was   the  initial  year  of  the    b.c.  956 

(Gl) 


62  CHRONOLOGY    OF   THE    HOLY    BIBLE 

911  Assyrian  Eponym  Tablets,  an  exceeding  valuable  collection  of 
chronological  material  that  spans  a  period  of  200  years. 

915  A  revolution  occurred  in  the  year  915  which  terminated  the 
dynasty  of  Jeroboam  and  placed  Omri  on  the  throne  of  Israel. 
This  man  was  a  remarkable  military  genius,  whom  the  Assy- 
rians jusdy  regarded  as  the  founder  of  an  empire.     He  attained 

by  "his  might  that  he  shewed"  the  position  of  Captain  of  the  host  of 
Israel,  and  when  he  became  king,  "bought  the  hill  of  Samaria  of  Shemer 
for  2  talents  of  silver  and  built  on  the  hill,  and  called  the  name  of  the  city 
....  Samaria."— I  Kin.  16,  27,  24. 

Tirzah  then  ceased  to  be  the  capital,  and  for  nearly  200  years 
Samaria  was  the  seat  of  royalty.  So  forceful  was  Omri  that 
Assyrian  inscriptions  during  180  years  continued  to  call  the 
land  of  Israel — Beth  Omri — or  ''land  of  Omri."  His  victories 
find  mention  in  the  Moabite  Stone,  in  which  Mesha,  king  of 
Moab,  boasts  of  his  successful  campaigns.  As  this  inscription 
contains  also  an  interesting  chronological  note,  I  quote  the  first 
nine  lines  here,  in  the  translation  of  Professor  Robert  W.  Rogers, 
Author  of  "History  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria."  The  whole 
inscription  contains  34  lines. 

"I  am  Mesha  son  of  Chemosh  .  .  .  king  of  Moab,  the  Dibonite.  My 
father  was  king  over  Moab  30  years,  and  I  became  king  after  my  father. 
And  I  made  this  high  place  for  Chemosh  in  Karchoh,  in  [gratitude  for] 
deliverance,  because  he  saved  me  from  all  the  .  .  .  and  because  he  made 
me  see  my  desire  upon  all  them  that  hated  me." 

"  Omri  was  king  over  Israel  and  he  afflicted  Moab  many  days,  because 
Chemosh  was  angry  with  his  land.  And  his  son  [Ahab]  succeeded  him; 
and  he  too  said,  'I  will  afflict  Moab.'  In  my  days  he  said  .  .  .  and  I 
saw  my  desire  upon  him  and  upon  his  house  and  Israel  perished  forever." 

"And  Omri  took  possession  of  the  land  of  Medeba;  and  he  dwelt  in  it, 
his  days  and  half  his  sons  days,  40  years;  but  Chemosh  restored  it  in  my 
days." 

We  learn  from  this  that  Ahab  not  only  held  what  his  father 
captured  with  a  firm  grip,  but  that  he  was  feared  by  the  ]Moab- 
ites;  and  not  until  Jehu  slew  Ahab's  son  Joram,  and  thus  put 
an  end  to  the  dynasty  of  Omri,  was  INIesha  able  to  recapture 


TESTIMONY    OF   THE   MONUMENTS  63 

their   lost   territory.     The  dynasty   of   Omri   lasted   40   years 
exactly,  as  stated  by  the  inscription. 

Omri,  the  founder,  reigned  alone 6  years 

Ahab,  his  valiant  son,  reigned 21     " 

Ahaziah  reigned  by  himself 1     " 

Ahaziah  was  crippled  and  his  son  became  regent  .      .  6     " 

J  Oram  afterwards  was  king  for 6     " 

Total 40  years 

The  army  of  Israel  had  so  much  better  opportunities  for 
military  training  during  the  long  reign  of  Ahab,  than  they  had 
during  the  short  reign  of  Omri,  that  we  are  not  surprised  to 
find  the  country  called  the  ''Land  of  Omri"  and  the  troops 
the  ''Men  of  Ahab."  Certainly,  this  was  the  custom  in  Assyria, 
for  the  inscription  on  the  obelisk  of  the  victorious  Shalmaneser 
II  speaks  of  "  10,000  Men  of  Aliab  the  Israelite,"  who  joined 
the  Hamath  Confederacy  at  the  battle  of  Karkar,  in  B.C.  854,  b.c.  854 
where  20,000  were  left  dead  on  the  field.  Since  that  expedition 
pushed  on  as  far  as  the  river  Orontes  and  turned  back  at  a 
point  nearly  200  miles  north  of  Samaria,  it  is  evident  that 
Shalmaneser  had  very  meagre  opportunities  for  acquainting 
himself  with  the  history  of  the  kings  of  Israel.  In  fact,  he  does 
.lot  pretend  to  have  met  x\hab  personally,  but  simply  a  detach- 
ment of  troops  whom  rumor  said  were  "Men  of  Ahab."  This 
shows  the  truthfulness  of  his  narrative,  for  to  have  met  Ahab 
Would  have  been  an  impossibility,  since  Ahab,  the  contemporary 
of  Shalmaneser's  father,  had  died  several  years  before. 

There  is  still  another  record  which  shows  how  ignorant 
Shalmaneser  was  regarding  the  kings  of  Israel.  During  a 
later  expedition,  undertaken  12  years  after  the  batde  of  Karkar, 
Shalmaneser  went  close  to  Samaria  and  exacted  a  tribute  of 
silver,  gold,  and  lead,  which  he  received  direct  from  Jehu. 
After  this  experience  there  certainly  was  no  excuse  for  a  mis- 
take, and  yet,  with  every  opportunity  to  learn  that  Jehu  was  in 
no  way  related  to  Omri,  but  on  the  contrary  had  proved  himself 
the  deadly  enemy  of  the  House  of  Omri,  Shalmaneser  innocently 


64  CHRONOLOGY    OF   THE    HOLY    BIBLE 

declares  that  the  tribute  he  received  was  paid  by  *'Jehii  the 
son  of  Omri."  Since  Shalmaneser's  inscriptions  were  engraved 
in  the  interest  of  Assyrian  history  and  not  for  that  of  Israel,  we 
consider  it  very  remarkable  that  what  they  do  give  of  the  latter 
accords  so  wel  with  the  Bible  narrative.  We  learn  therefore 
from  Bible  Chronology  that  the  6th  year  of  Shalmaneser  II 
was  the  15th  year  of  Jehu  and  that  the  18th  year  of  Shalmaneser 
w^as  the  27th  year  of  Jehu's  reign. 
B.C.  806  Both  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament  bear  witness  to  the 
fact  that  the  City  of  Nineveh  repented  as  a  result  of  preaching 
by  the  Prophet  Jonah  during  the  reign  of  Jeroboam  11. 
^  The  Monuments  show  that  a  great  religious  movement  took 
place  in  those  days,  which  resulted  in  a  change  from  the  worship 
of  many  gods  to  only  one  god  whom  they  called  Nebo.  Prof. 
Winckler,  of  Berlin,  quotes  in  part  from  an  inscription,  not  an 
anonymous  carving,  but  one  signed  by  a  certain  officer  of  the 
crown,  in  which  the  ''essential"  truth  was: — 
"Put  thy  trust  in  Nebo;  trust  not  in  another  god." 

Said  dignitary  held  office  in  B.C.  798,  and  one  of  his  official 
seals  has  recently  been  discovered.  Prof.  Winckler  declares 
that  this  Reformation  was  as  decided  as  that  of  Luther,  and 
happened  in  the  reign  of  Adad-nirari  III  (1st  to  28th  year  of 
Jeroboam  II).  This  king  rescued  Israel  from  Syria  in  B.C. 
^^  806  and  805.  See  n  Kin.  13,  5.  All  of  which  agrees  with  the 
Bible  record. 
B.C.  786  The  question  is  sometimes  asked,  when  did  "the  Earthquake 
in  the  days  of  Uzziah,  k"ng  of  Judah,"  take  place?  —  Bible 
Chronology  regards  that  phenomena  as  having  been  an  expres- 
sion of  Divine  displeasure,  very  much  like  "the  thunder  and 
rain"  in  wheat  harvest,  when  Saul  was  made  king;  in  fact, 
a  premonition  of  approaching  calamity,  which  finally  culminated 
in  the  captivity  of  Israel.  As  such,  its  true  location  is  found  in 
the  year  B.C.  786,  precisely  65  years  prior  to  B.C.  721,  when 
Sargon  captured  Samaria  and  carried  away  thousands  to  the 
land  of  the  Medes.     Isaiah  7,  8. 


TESTIMONY    OF   THE    MONUMENTS  65 

Menahem,  the  usurper,  occupied  the  throne  of  Israel  from  b.c.  771 
B.C.  771  to  761.  Fearing  an  uprising  of  the  people  he  sought 
the  aid  of  and  paid  tribute  to  Ashur-dan  III,  king  of  Assyria. 
This  king  made  several  predatory  expeditions  into  the  land  of 
Canaan  and  made  its  inhabitants  tributary  to  his  kingdom. 
In  his  treaties  or  negotiations  he  was  represented  by  a  military 
chieftain  named  Pula  or  Pul  (11  Kin.  15,  19 — i  Chron.  5,  26), 
whom  the  Bible  by  anticipation  calls  King  of  Assyria.  This 
same  Pul  finally  ascended  the  throne  in  B.C.  745  and  reigned 
18  years.  His  conquest  of  Babylon  in  731  added  another  crown 
to  his  royal  honors.  In  ^Assyria  he  was  known  by  the  name  of 
Tiglath-pileser,  but  in  Babylon  he  retained  his  original  title 
of  Pul, — in  Persian  Por, — in  Greek  Poros.  The  Canon  of 
Ptolemy  tells  us  that  Poros  and  Chinzeros  jointly  occupied  the 
throne  of  Babylon  for  5  years — 731  to  726.  Prof.  Schrader 
and  Dr.  T.  G.  Pinches  have  fully  demonstrated  that  Pul  and 
Tiglath-pileser  were  one  and  the  same  person. 

Several   notable   years   now   present   themselves   for  record,     b.c.  776 
The  first  Olympic  game  was  celebrated  in  B.C.  776,  the  35th 
year  of  Jeroboam  II — from  it,  date  the  Greek  olympiads. 

The  City  of  Rome  was  founded  April  21st,  B.C.  753,  which    b.c.  753 
year  was  the  7  th  of  Pekah. 

The  era  Nabonassar  began  with  the  year  B.C.  747,  the  13th    b.c.  747 
year  of  Pekah.     It  forms  the  initial  date  of  the  Canon  of  Ptolemy. 

Prof.  A.  H.  Sayce,  LL.D.,  of  world-wide  reputation,  says  b.c.  743 
that  from  the  days  of  David  to  those  of  Jeroboam  II  (11  Kin. 
14,  28)  the  country  of  Hamath  was  allied  to  Judah,  that  it  then 
became  the  ally  of  Israel,  and  finally  was  won  back  to  Judah 
in  the  days  of  Uzziah;  this  caused  Tiglath-pileser  to  exact  tribute 
from  Uzziah  in  B.C.  743.  Bible  Chronology  tells  us  that  743 
was  the  last  year  of  Uzziah's  life,  also  that  he  died  in  his  83rd 
year.  For  the  last  14  years  of  his  life,  Uzziah  was  a  leper  and . 
lived  in  a  separate  house.  IMeantime  Jotham,  his  son,  con- 
ducted the  government  on  behalf  of  his  father. 

In  734,  the  9th  year  of  Ahaz,  Tiglath-pileser  marched  again    b.c.  734 


66  CHRONOLOGY    OF   THE    HOLY    BIBLE 

into  Syria  and  made  Ahaz,  king  of  Judah,  his  vassal.     In  732 
i.e.  732    Damascus   was    taken    and    Rezin,    the   king   of   Syria,   slain 
(n  Kin.  16,  9). 
Tiglath-pileser  has  left  an  inscription  which  reads: — 

"Pekah  their  king  they  killed,  Hoshea  as  king  over  them  I  appointed." 

Bible  Chronology  shows  that  Pekah  was  slain  in  B.C.  731,  and  as 
t.c.  727    Tiglath-pileser  died  in  727  there  is  no  inconsistency  as  to  dates, 
i.e.  722        At  the  close  of  B.C.  722  Samaria  was  taken,  and  early  in  721 
.c.  721    Israel  was  carried  captive  to  Asswia  and  lodged  in  Halah,  by 

the  river   Habor,   and   in   the    cities    of    the    ]\Iedes.     Sargon 

describes  his  victory,  according  to  Prof.  Clay,  in  the  following 

words : — 

"Samerina  (Samaria)  I  besieged  I  captured.  27,290  people  dwelling 
in  it  I  carried  away.  50  chariots  I  collected  from  them  and  the  rest  (of 
the  people)  I  allowed  to  retain  their  possessions.  My  commander-in-chief 
I  placed  over  them.  I  settled  there  the  men  of  the  countries  conquered 
(by  my  hand)." 

The  Bible  record,  with  varied  details,  covers  exactly  the 
same  ground  where  it  says: — 

"  And  the  king  of  Assyria  brought  men  from  Babylon,  and  from  Cuthah, 
and  from  Ava,  and  from  Hamath,  and  from  Sepharvaim,  and  placed  them 
in  the  cities  of  Samaria  instead  of  the  children  of  Israel;  and  they  possessed 
Samaria,  and  dwelt  in  the  cities  thereof."  —  n  Kin.  17,  24. 

.c.  701  There  is  a  curious  stumbling-block  in  the  life  of  king  Hezekiah, 
whose  reign  began  in  B.C.  728,  that  has  tripped  many  a  reader. 
We  refer  to  the  statement  made  ii  Kin.  18,  13,  Isa.  36,  1. 

"Now  in  the  14th  year  of  king  Hezekiah  did  Sennacherib,  King  of 
Assyria,  come  up  against  all  the  fenced  cities  of  Judah  and  took  them." 

Hezekiah  had  what  is  known  in  the  United  States  as  a  Second 
Term  of  office.  After  a  reign  covering  14  years,  in  which 
Hezekiah : 

"Wrought  that  which  was  good  and  right  and  truth  before  the  Lord  his 
God." 


TESTIMONY    OF   THE   MONUMENTS  67 

Hezekiah  was  told  by  the  prophet  Isaiah: 

"Thus  saith  the  Lord,  set  thine  house  in  order;  for  thou  shalt  die  and 
not  live." 

God  mercifully  spared  his  life  and  in  B.C.  714  gave  him  a  new 
lease,  with  15  years  to  run.     However,  after  his  recovery: — 

"Hezekiah  rendered  not  again  according  to  the  benefit  done  unto  him; 
for  his  heart  was  lifted  up;  therefore  there  was  wrath  upon  him,  and  upon 
Judah  and  Jerusalem." 

Reading  the  history  of  his  life  with  care  it  will  be  observed 
that  as  the  sacred  writer  glanced  backward  over  the  past,  he 
applied  the  word  "these'  to  years  near  at  hand,  viz. — the 
Second  Term  of  Hezekiah's  reign,  and  ''those"  to  the  distant 
years,  viz. — the  First  Term  of  Hezekiah's  reign.  Thus  in 
II  Kin.  20,  1— II  Chron.  32,  24— Isaiah  38,  1— 
we  read  concerning  the  First  Term: — 

"In  those  days  was  Hezekiah  sick  unto  death." 

While  concerning  the  Second  Term  we  read : — 

"After  these  things  and  the  establishment  thereof."     ii  Chron.  32,  1. 

However,  he  goes  a  step  farther  and   states   exactly  what   he 
meant  by  "these,"  saying: — 

"Now  in  the  14th  year  of  king  Hezekiah  did  Sennacherib,  King  of  Assy- 
ria, come  up  against  all  the  fenced  cities  of  Judah,  and  took  them." 

From  which  it  appears  that  Sennacherib  arrived  in  the 
Second  Term  of  Hezekiah  and  about  the  year  B.C.  700. 

Let  us  now  go  to  the  monuments  and  see  what  happened 
about  this  time.  They  tell  us  that  in  B.C.  701,  Sennacherib 
started  an  expedition,  from  far  off  Assyria,  with  the  purpose 
of  invading  Palestine.  Since  spring  was  the  time  "when  kings 
went  out  to  battle,"  it  would  have  taken  him  until  July  or  August 
to  reach  the  most  southern  point  of  his  journey,  provided  he 


68  CHRONOLOGY    OF   THE    HOLY    BIBLE 

was  not  delayed.  He,  however,  laid  siege  to  Tvre,  conquered 
Sidon,  Philistia,  Edom,  Ammon,  and  Moab  before  he  made  his 
approach  to  Jerusalem,  so  that  evidently  the  year  B.C.  701 
was  nearly  spent  before  he  met  the  signal  defeat  that  awaited 
his  coming  and  is  recorded  in  the  19th  chapter  of  ii  Kings. 
Thus  we  see  that  the  records  of  the  monuments  agree  admirably 
with  the  records  of  the  Bible.  Surely  the  stumbling-block  has 
been  removed,  for  a  case  of  more  perfect  harmony  could  scarcely 
be  imagined. 


BIBLE  AND  JULIAN  DATES. 


MISCELLANEOUS  DATES. 


The  following  dates  have  been  worked  out  on  the  principles 
laid  down  in  the  "Idan  Olamin"  of  Dr.  Joseph  L.  Sossnitz.  If 
the  reader  will  transfer  them  to  the  margin  of  his  Bible,  each 
passage  will  acquire  new  interest.  For  example:  ''The  9th 
year,  10th  month,  and  10th  day  of  the  mouth" — conveys  no 
special  meaning  to  the  modern  mind,  its  equivalent,  however, 
viz:     December  18th,  b.c.  589 — is  clear  and  to  the  point. 

REFERENCE  DATE  B.C. 

n  Kin          25,     1 December  18  589 

25,    3 June  18  586 

"  25,  27 Nergal-sar-user  560 

Ezra  3,     1 September  536 

3,    8 May  535 

6,  15 February  9  515 

"                 7,    9 March  9  458 

7,  9 July  5       458 

"  8,  15 March  17       458 

"  8,  31 March  20       458 

Nehemiah     1,     1 November  446 

"            2,     1 March  445 

2,  11 July  9       445 

5,  14 March  433 

6,  15 September  2      445 

"             7,  73 September  7       445 

8,  13 September  8       445 

"             8.  18 September  15       445 

9,  1 September  30      445 

"  13,    6 March  433 

(71) 


72 


CHRONOLOGY   OF  THE  HOLY   BIBLE 


REFERENCE  DATE    B.C. 

Esther  1,    3 From  483  to  482 

ft               2   16 December  479 

«               3^    7 March           24  473 

(c               3     7 to  February  11  472 

u              3   12 March           24  472 

(c              3   13 March            15  471 

u               8     9 June                1  472 

«               8   12 March           15  471 

II               9     1 March           15  471 

(I               9   15 March           16  471 

«               9^  18 March           17  471 

Isaiah            6,    1 "^^^ 

«  7     8 From  786  to  721 

14,  28 "^28 

"             20,    1 '^^^ 

t(  36     1 From  701  to  700 

38,  1 714 

39,  1 '^^^ 

Jeremiah       1,    2 628 

(I         13 J^y  ^^6 

24'    1 597 

25,    1 605 

25,    3 628 

"           26,    1 608 

»           28,    1 J^b'  594 

u           28   17 September  594 

tt  29   10 From  606  to  536 

32,    1 588 

35,    1 606 

"          36,    1 605 

"          36,    9 604 

II           36  22 November  604 

t(          39     1 December  589 

tf          39     2 Ju^6             ^^  586 

(f          41     1 September  586 

«           46,    2 Spring  605 

"           49  34 J^^^y  597 


MISCELLANEOUS   DATES 


73 


REFERENCE 

Jeremiah 

51, 

52, 

52, 

52, 

52, 

52, 

52, 

52, 

Ezekiel 

1, 

(( 

8, 

(< 

20, 

(( 

24, 

ti 

26, 

11 

29. 

ii 

29, 

ti 

30, 

i( 

31, 

(( 

32, 

11 

32, 

(C 

33, 

« 

40, 

Daniel 

1, 

(( 

2, 

11 

5, 

le 

7, 

t( 

8, 

(( 

9, 

" 

10, 

" 

10, 

11 

11, 

Amos 

1, 

Haggai 

1, 

<< 

1, 

(t 

2, 

(I 

2, 

Zechariah 

1, 

1, 


DATE  B.C. 

59 594 

4 December  18       589 

6 June  18       586 

12 July  18       586 

28 Spring  598 

29 Summer  587 

30 Summer  582 

31 Nergal-sar-user     560 

1 July  1       593 

1 August  8       591 

1 August  1       590 

1 December  18       589 

1 March  25      587 

1 January  7       587 

17 March  16      570 

20 March  31       587 

1 May  23       587 

1 February  21       585 

17 March  7       585 

21 December  28       586 

1 March  27       572 

1 606 

1 603 

1 538 

1 541 

1 538 

1 538 

1 536 

4 March  31  to  April  21 

1 538 

1 788 

1 August      27         520 

15 .  September  19       520 

1 October  15       520 

10 December  17      520 

1 October  25       520 

7 February  14       519 


74 


CHRONOLOGY   OF   THE   HOLY   BIBLE 


REFERENCE 

Zechariah 

7,    1 

" 

14,    5 

Matthew 

2,     1 

i( 

24,  20 

ii 

27,     1 

Luke 

2,42 

11 

3,     1 

(C 

3,23 

ii 

24,     1 

ii 

24,50 

John 

2,  20 

Acts 

2,     1 

<^ 

9,    2 

a 

9,  27 

a 

10,    9 

ii 

12,     1 

a 

13,  20 

ii 

15,     1 

ii 

21,  17 

a 

28,  14 

ii 

28,30 

II  Cor. 

12     2 

Galatians 

1,  18 

" 

2,    9 

Romans 

15,  19 

I  Peter 

5,  13- 

DATES 

Xovember  6  B.C.  518^ 

"     786 


September       " 

Taken  Sep.  3  a.d. 

April  3     A.D. 

Passover 

Spring 

Fall 

April  5 

May  15 

B.C.  18  to 

]\Iay  24 


June 


350  3'ears 
Council 


2 
70 
33 
11 
29 
29 
33 
33 
29 
33 
40 
43 
39 
44 


Agreed  to  separate    . 

S.  Paul  in  the  West 54  to  67 

■1,  1,  S.  Peter  in  the  East     .      .      .   54  to  62 


CHRONOLOGICAL  INDEX. 


NAMES,  EVENTS  AND  DATES. 


Aaron — The  first  Highpriest  of  Israel  .... 
Parents.  Amram  and  Jochebed.     Born  B.C. 

1561.     Brother  of  Miriam  and  Moses. 
Before  Pharaoh  when     ...   83  years  old. 
Exodus  occurred  when  ...   84  years  old. 
Departure  from  Sinai  when       .   85  years  old. 
Final  encampment  Kadesh  when  86  years  old. 


Public  Service. 

1477  to  1438 


Died  B.C.  1438,  when 


.  123  years  old. 


Abdon — The  Judge 

Abel — Slain  by  Cain about 

Abiathar — In  II  Sam.  8,    17;    i  Chron.   24,  6; 
I  Chron.  18,    16.      The    text    should    read; 
^'Abiathar  the  son  of  Ahimelech." 
Abijah  or  Abijam — King  of  Judah 

Abimelech — The  Judge 

Abraham — Son  of  Terah  was  born     . 

The  Promise  made  to  Abraham 
Left  Ur  of  the  Chaldees     .      . 
Ishmael  his  son  w^as  born  . 
Isaac       "     "      "       "      .     . 

Abraham  died 

Aged  175  years. 
Absalom— Born  1038— Died  1008— age  30. 

Absalom's  Rebellion about 

AcHAN — The  son  of  Carmi  and  great-grandson  of 

Zerah.     Josh.  7,  18 

Adad-nirari  III — King  of  Assyria      .... 
Saved  Israel  from  Syria  by  capturing  Arpad 

and  Azaz,  near  Damascus 

Adam's  history  began   5300,  Adam   died    4370, 
age  930. 

(77) 


1208  to  1200 
5072 


943  to  941 
1298  to  1295 

1982 
1907 
1907 
1896 

1882 
1807 


1008 

1437 
812  to  783 

806  to  805 


78  CHRONOLOGY   OF   THE   HOLY   BIBLE 

Public  Service. 

Agrippa — The  king,  Bom  b.c.  10,  Died  in  a.d.  44 
(Acts  12,  23) .     Succeeded  Philip,  the  Tetrarch 
in  A.D.  37,  and  reigned  till  a.d.  44. 
Agrippa  Jr. — Born  a.d.  27 — See  Acts  25,  13. 

Ahab — The  king,  reigned  in  Israel 903  to    882 

Ahasuerus — The  Hebrews  often  called  the  kings 
of  Media  and  Persia  by  the  general  title 
Ahasuerus,  or  Assuerus,  just  as  the  kings  of 
Egypt  were  called  Pharoah.     For  example: 

Darius  the  Mede,  Ezra  4,  6  .      .      .      .       538  to    535 

Astyages— Dan.  9,  1 593  to    558 

Xerxes— Esther  1,  1 485  to    465 

Ahaz — Reigned  in  Judah 742  to    727 

Born  772 — Died  727 — age  45. 

Paid  tribute  to  Assyria  in 734 

Ahaziah,  or  Azariah,  King  of  Judah,  Born  892, 
Died  870,  age  22. 

Reigned  1  year 870 

Ahaziah  of  Israel,  King  from 882  to    875 

Reigned  1  year — 882.     Fell  through  a  lattice 
and  died  875. 
Ahiah  or  Ahimelech.     i  Sam.  14,  3,  18,  .  about     1080  to  1045 
Ahijah — Prophet  at  Shiloh  in  time  of  Jeroboam  I       960  to    945 
Ahimelech — i  Chron.  24,  3,  31.     Read;  Abiathar 
instead  of  Ahimelech — ^Ahimelech  the  father 
of    Abiathar    was    put    to    death    hj  Saul, 

I  Sam.  22,  16,  18 about     1045 

Alexander  and  Aristobulus — Sons    of   Herod 

the  Great — Slain  b.c.  4. 
Alexander  Janneus — King  of  the  Jews   .      .      .       103  to      76 
Altar  at  Bethel — Erected       961  by  Jeroboam  I "] 

Destroyed  623  "   Josiah  }  i  Kin.  13, 2. 

Interval       338  years.  J 

Amalekites — Descendants  of  Esau,  who  settled 

the  Southern  portion  of  Canaan. 
AiVL^ziAH — King  of  Judah,  Born  849,  Died  795, 
age  54. 

Reigned  actively 824  to    810 

"        passively 810  to    795 

Ammonites — Descendants  of  Lot,  who  settled 
East  of  the  Dead  Sea. 


CHRONOLOGICAL   INDEX  79 

Public  Service. 

Amon — King  of  Judah,  Bom  664,  Died  640,  age  24. 

Reigned  two  years 642  to    640 

Amorites — Descendants  of  Ham,  who  settled  in 

Canaan. 
Amos — The  prophet  during  Uzziah's  reign     .      .       786  to    772 
Amram — Father    of    Moses,    Born    about    1615, 

Died  1478,  aged  137. 
Amraphel — Gen.    xiv. — King    of    Shinar.     The 

same  person  as  Hammurabi,  king  of  Babylon, 

the  6th  king  of  the  first  dynasty. 
Antiochus-epiphanes — King  of  Syria       .      .      .       175  to    164 
Antigonus — Last  of  the  Asmonean  kings      b.c.         40  to      37 
Antipater — Son  of  Herod.     Slain  .      .      .       b.c.  1 

Archelaus — Reigned  in  Judah       .      .      .       b.c.         1  to  a. d.  9 

Banished  to  ''Vienna"  (near  L3^ons,  France)    .  .   a.d.  9 

Ark  of  the  Covenant — At  Shiloh  for  300  years  .     1431  to  1121 

Seven  months  in  Philistia 1121 

In  house  of  Abinadab  at  Kirjath-jearim  for 

87  years 1121  to  1034 

In  house  of  Obecl-edom  three  months        .      .      1034 

In  City  of  David  43  years 1034  to    991 

Arphaxad— Born  3032— Died  2594— age  438. 
Artaxerxes — Ezra  4,  7,-6, 14.  Same  as  Cambyses      529  to    522 
Artaxerxes  Longimanus — King  of  Persia     .      .       465  to    425 
7th  year  of  his  reign   ....     October       459  to    458 

20th      ^'        "  ''....     October       446  to    445 

32nd     ''        ''  ''....     October       434  to    433 

Asa — King  of  Judah.      Reigned  42  years.     .      .       941  to    899 
Made  a  Covenant  in  927. 

Was  diseased  from 903  to    899 

Asaph — The  musician  and  composer     ....     1033  to    980 
AsHDOD — Taken.    See  Isaiah  20,  1  .      .      .      .      .       708 
Ashur-bani-pal  ("  Asnapper") — King  of  Assyria        668  to    625 
AsHUR-DAN  III — King  of  Assyria 773  to    764 

His  Army  led  by  Pul,  who  was    afterward 
king. 
Asmonean  Dynasty — Lasted  for  126  years     b.c.       163  to     37 

No  Asmonean   highpriest  for  7  years     .      .       160  to    153 

The  supplanter  Alcimus,  or  Jacimus  .  .  162  to  159 
AsNAPPER  (Ashur-bani-pal) — King  of  Assyria  .  668  to  625 
Assyrian  Eponym  Canon,  Valuable  record    .      .       911  to    700 


80  CHRONOLOGY    OF   THE   HOLY    BIBLE 

Public  Service. 

AsTYAGES — King   of    Media — Son   of   Cyaxares  I       593  to    558 

Astyages  was  the  Ahasuerus  of  Dan  9,   1 — 

The  Assuerus  of  Tobit  14,  15. 
Athaliah — Queen   of   Judah 869  to    863 

Born  about  910,  Died  864.     Granddaughter 

Omri;  daughter  of  Ahab;  and  wife  of  Jehoram. 
A.  U.  C. — Roman  years; — 

752=B.c.  2;  782=a.d.  29;  786=a.d.  33. 
Augustus  Caesar — Began  to  reign  alone,  after 

the  battle  of  Actium,  September  3,  b.c.  31. 

Died  August  19,  a.d.  14.      Tiberius   Caesar 

immediately  declared  Emperor. 
Azariah — The  prophet  during  Asa's  reign,  about      932 
AzARiAH  or  Ahaziah — King  of  Judah  1  year  .      .       870 
Azariah  or  Uzziah — King  of  Judah  53  years     .       810  to    757 
Azariah  II — Chief  Priest,  during  reigns  of  Jotham 

and  Hezekiah 744  to    715 

Baasha — King  of  Israel 938  to    915 

Reigned  23  years. — See  Dynasty. 

Babel — Confusion  of  Tongues 2633 

Babylon — Taken  by  Sennacherib 691 

Taken  by  Cyrus 538 

Babylonian — Captivity  of  Princes,  70  years     .       606  to    536 
Captivity   of   people,   50  years     .       586  to    536 
Balaam — Son  of  Beor.     A  brilliant  but  perverse 

and  stubborn  prophet  who  was  slain  by  Israel 

in  their  battle  with  the  Midianites      .      .      .     1438 
Balak — King  of  Moab  and  son  of  Zippor,  who 

sent  for  Balaam  to  curse  Israel.     Num.  22,  6     1438 

Barak— Captain  of  the  Host 1313  to  1309 

Bashemath — Gen.  36,  3,  10,  17,  read  Mahalath 

as  given  in  Gen.  28,  9. 
Battle  of  Actium — September  3,  b.c.  31. 
Battle  of  Aphek — ^Ahab  and  Ben-hadad.      .      .       886 
Battle  of  Aphek  or  Ebenezer 1121 

Ark  of  the  Covenant  taken  by  the  Philistines. 
Battle  of  Bethcar — Israel  and  the  Philistines  .     1101 
Battle  of  Bethshemesh — Amaziah  defeated     .       811 

Battle  of  Carchemish 605 

Battle  of  Gilboa — Saul  and  the  Philistines        .     1042 


CHRONOLOGICAL    INDEX  81 

Public  Service, 

Battle  of  Hormah — Defeat  of  Israel  ....  1475 
Battle  of  Hormah — Victory  of  Israel  .  .  .  1438 
Battle  of  Karkar — Shalmaneser  II  ...  .  854 
Battle  of  Mishmash — Philistines  defeated  .  .  1049 
Battle  Ramoth-gilead — Ahab  defeated  .  .  .  883 
Belshazzar — Reigned  with  his  father  Nabonidus      541  to    538 

Ben-hadad — Allied  with  Asa 916 

Bex-hadad — Successor  of  Hazael 825 

Beor — Father  of  Bela,  king  of  Edom — Gen.  36,  32. 
Father  of  Balaam,  the  soothsayer — Nuni. 

22,5. 
Bela  and  Balaam  were  probably  own  brothers. 
Bela  resisted  Israel  by  arms — Num.  20,  20. 
Balaam  ''  ''       "    evil  counsel — Num.  31, 

15,  16. 
BoAZ — Son  of  Salmon  and  husband  of  Ruth.  Born 

about 1190 

Book  of  the  Laav — Taught  in  Judah  ....       897 
Found  by  Hilkiah      .      .      .       623 
Brazen  Serpent —  Cast  and  mounted     1438 
Raised    at   Punon 

September  1438 
Broken  by  Hezekiah  726 
Lasted  712  years 

Cainan — Son  of  Ham,    Born   4676,   Died   3766, 
aged  910. 

Caleb — Son  of  Jephunneh,  Born 1516 

40  years  old  in 1476 

85  years  old  in 1431 

Call  to  Abraham,  when  75  years  old  .  .  .  1907 
Cambyses — Son  of  Cyrus  and  king  of  Persia      .      .       529  to    522 

Called  Artaxerxes  in  Ezra.  4,  7;-6,  14. 
Canaanites — Descendants  of  Ham,  w^ho  settled 

in  Palestine. 
Captivities — See  Servitudes. 
Captivity — In  Babylon  ended,  Judah  returned      .       536 

Captivity  of  Jehoiachin         597  to    560 

Captivity,  End  of — To  Zerubbabel. 

A  delay  of  16  years      ....       536  to    520 
Carthagenians — Defeated b.c.       202 


82  CHRONOLOGY    OF   THE   HOLY    BIBLE 

Public  Service. 

Christian  Era — Correct  date    .      .      .Fall     b.c.  2 

Jewish  year  a.m.  3760  began  August  30       b.c.  2 

Feast  of  Tabernacles,  September  13  to  21    b.c.  2 

Confusion  of  Tongues  at  Babel 2633 

CoNiAH  or  Jeconiah,   or  Jeconias   or 

Jehoiachin — King  of  Juclah,  3  months      597 

Cyaxares  I — King  of  Media,  Father  of  Astyages,       633  to    593 
Grandfather  of  Mandane  and  Cyaxares  11. 
See  Herodotus  Book  1,  74. 
"    Zenophon      ''      I,  5. 
"   Josephus  Antq.  x,  11,  4. 

Cyaxares   II — Son   of  Astyages    and   uncle    of 

Cyrus,  otherwise  known  as  Darius  the  Mede,       538  to    535 

Cyrenius — Roman  governor  of  Judea  .      .       a.d.  6  to      10 

Cyrus — Son  of  Mandane  and  Cambyses — 

King  of  Persia 558  to    529 

King  of  Babylon 538  to    529 

Isaiah  proi3hesicd  about  him  in       ....       736 
Prophecy  fulfilled  in  200  years       ....       536 

Cyrus  and  Darius  the  Mede — Ezra  4,  5,  6,-6,  14       538  to    535 

Damascus  fell,  Rezin  slain 732 

Dan — This  tribe  worshipped  idols 1381  to    721 

Interval  660  years — Taken  captive  by  Sargon.    721 

Book  of  Revelation  omits  tribe  of  Dan. 
Daniel— ''The  prophet"— Matt.  24,  15. 

Taken  captive 606 


603 
594 
538 
537 
536 


606 


Nebuchadnezzar's  dream 
Fiery  furnace 
Belshazzar's  feast 
Lions'  den       .... 
Angel  Gabriel's  message . 
Daniel    and  Princes  taken  to  Babylon 
Darius — Among  the  Persians,  was  a  general  title 
for  king. 
1 — Darius  the  Mecle — Dan.  11,  1    . 
2 — Darius  the  Persian,  son  of  Hystaspes   . 

3 — Darius  Nothus 

4 — Darius  Coclomanus 

Darius  the  Mede — King  of  the  Chaldeans,  was 
son  of  Astyages,  and  Uncle  of  C3aTis.  Born 
B.C.  600.     Reigned  in  Babylon     ....       538  to    535 


538  to 

535 

521  to 

485 

425  to 

396 

337  to 

333 

CHRONOLOGICAL   INDEX  83 

Public  Service. 

David— Son  of  Jesse.    King  of  Judah.   Born  1071, 
Died  1001,  aged  70. 

Reigned  as  king  in  Hebron 1041  to  1034 

Reigned  as  king  in  Jerusalem 1034  to  1001 

Anxious  to  buikl  Temple     ....   about  1028 

Seven  sons  of  Saul  slain       ....   about  1018 
Death  of  Herod — January  b.c.  1.     Aged  almost 

70  years 71  to        1 

Deborah — The  judge  and  prophetess  ....  1313  to  1309 

Descent  into  Egypt — Jacob  and  family  .      .      .  1692 

Divided  Canaan  among  the  tribes  of  Israel    .      .  1431 

Divine  Aid  Refused — Ezek.  20,  3       ....  590 

Dynasty — Of  Jeroboam  I 961  to    938 

''  Baasha 938  to    914 

''  Omri 909  to  869 

"  Jehu 869  to  771 

''  Menahem 771  to    759 

Earthquake — In  days  of  Uzziah — Isaiah  7,  8        .       786 

65  years  before  the  Captivity  of  Israel. 
Eber — Father   of   the   Hebrews.      Born   2767 — 
Died  2303— aged  464. 

Eclipse  of  the  Sun 809 

Eclipse  of  the  Sun — June  15 763 

See  Eponym  Tablets,  also  Amos  8,  9.  763 

Eclipse  of  Sun — Peace  between  Lydians  and  Medes    610 
Marriage  of  Astyages  to  Aryenis.     610 
Edom — A  country  first  inhabited  by  the  Horites 
and  then  by  Esau  and  his  descendants. 
Governed    by    Dukes    prior    to    b.c.    1476; 

Exod.  15,  15;  Gen.  36,  40. 
Governed    by    Kings    on    and    after    1438; 

Num.  20,  14. 
Edom    submitted    to    David    about    1030; 
I  Chron.  18,  13. 
Egypt  to  Canaan — Israel  travelled  1100  miles    .     1477  to  1437 

Ehud— The  judge 1341  to  1337 

Elah — King  of  Israel,  reigned  1  year      .      .      .      .       915 
Elders— ''No  king  in  Israel,"  Judg.  chap.  17  to  21     1391  to  1371 
Eleazar — Son  of  Aaron,  Highpriest  for  probably 

30  years 1438  to  1408 

Eli— Born  1218— Died  1120— aged  98.  Judged  Israel  1160  to  1120 


84  CHRONOLOGY    OF   THE    HOLY    BIBLE 

Public  Service. 

Eliakim  or  Jehoiakim — King  of  Judah     .      .      .       60S  to    597 

Elijah— The  Tishbite S91  to    872 

AtHoreb 884 

Threatened  Jehoram 873 

Translated 872 

Elisha — Became  prophet  in 880 

The  Shimammite 880 

Raised  boy  to  Hfe 877 

Prophesied  famine 877  to    870 

Naaman  captain  of  Assyria 871 

Died "^ 825 

Elon— The  judge 1218  to  1208 

Enoch— Born  4179— Translated  3811— aged  365. 
Enos— Born  4866— Died  3961— aged  905. 
Enrollment — Made  by  order  of  Augustus  Caesar  in  b.c.  2 
Taxes  collected  a.d.  7  to  10 — See  taxation. 
In  David's  day  it  took  ten  months  to  make  a 
census.    Caesar's  enrollment  dealt  with  vastly 
greater  numbers  and  took  a  longer  time. 

Eponym  Canon — Of  Assyria 911  to    700 

Era  Nabonassar — Babylonian  chronology     .      .       747 

EsARHADDON — King  of  Assyria 680  to    668 

Esau— Born  1822,  Died  later  than  1702. 

Married  both  Judith  and  Bashemath  .  .  .  1782 
Esther — ]\Iade  queen  of  Persia  .  •  .  .  .  .  479 
Cast  Pur  .... 
Decree  for  slaughter 
Counter  decree  . 
The  Jews  had  revenge 


Purim 


473 

March  24  472 

June       1  472 

March  15-16  471 

March  17  471 


Evil-Merodach — King  of  Babylon.  [See  Nergal.]       562  to    560 
Exodus — Children  of  Israel  left  Egypt  ....      1477 

From  Exodus  to  the  Temple  479  years  1477  to  998 
Ezekiel — A  Prophet  at  time  of  the  Captivity  .  593  to  570 
Ezekiel's — ^'Siege  of  Jerusalem."  Ezek.  4th  chap. 

"Fifth  year  of  the  captivity."  Ezek.  i,  i.     .    b.c.  593 
r  ''390  days  and  40  days."    Ezek.  4,  i  to  8. 

\  Prophetic  expression  for 430  yrs. 

Pointing  to  first  year  of  Asmonean  Dynasty  b.c.  163 

Ezra — The  scribe.     Ezra  vii  chap. 

Jews  left  Babylon      ....   March    9  458 


CHRONOLOGICAL    INDEX  85 

Public  Service. 

Congregated  by  the  river  .  .  March  17-20  458 

Celebrated  the  Passover  .  .        ''23  458 

Arrived  in  Jerusalem      .  .  .  July       5  458 
A  four  months'  journey. 

Famine— In  Egypt,  Joseph  governor  of  the  land    .     1694  to  1687 
In  Palestine  2  years    ....       b.c.         24  and  23 

In  Samaria,  3  years 890  to    887 

Feast  of  Lights— Time  of  the  Maccabees  Nov.  25  b.c.  165 
Feast  op  Purim— See  Esther  also  Lunar  Echpse 
Fifteenth  Year  of  Tiberius  Caesar,  began  Aug. 

19  A.D.  28,  ended  Aug.  19,  a.d.  29. 
Flood — Lasted  one  year,  Noah  and  family  saved     3045 
''Fourth  Generation"  from  Jacob  (Gen.  15, 16).  ) 
1st  Levi,  2  Kohath,  3  Amram,  4  Moses.  j 

400  Years— From  time  Isaac  was  5  years  old   .      .     1877 

To  the  Exodus  in I477 

''Fourth  Generation  of  Jehu— 11  Kin.  10,  30       .       840  to    771 
1st  Jehoahaz,  2  Joash,  3  Jeroboam  II,  4  Zacha- 
riah.     See  Dynasty. 

Gad— David's  seer 1041  to  1001 

Gedeliah— Made  Governor  of  Judah    ....       585 

Gehazi — Servant  of  Elisha 880  to    870 

Genealogies— Prepared  for  Jotham. 

I  Chron.  5,  17  .      .      .      .     about       754 
Genealogies— Prepared  in  the   days   of 

Jeroboam  II about       790 

Gideon— The  judge 1302  to  1298 

GiRGASHiTES— Descendants  of  Ham  who  settled 

in  Canaan. 
GoBRYAS— Governor  of  Gutium,    commander  of 

Cyrus'    army,    and    temporary   governor  of 

Babylon   before    Darius    the  Mede   became 

king  in '    .      .      .      .       538 

Golden  Calf— In  Bethel  and  in  Dan     ...       961 

Altar  destroyed 623 

Prophecy  fulfilled  in  338  years. 
Grandfather— Called    Father    in    the    Bible — 

Dan.  5,  2,  11. 
Grandson— Called  Son  in  the  Bible— 11  Sam.  19, 

24—1  Kin.  19,  16— 11  Chron.  22,  9— Ezra  5,  1. 


86  CHRONOLOGY    OF   THE   HOLY    BIBLE 

Public  Service, 

Granddaughter — Called  Daughter  in  the  Bible — 

II  Chron.  22,  2. 
Greatgrandson — In  the  Bible  called  Son. 

Joshua  22,  20— Heb.  7,  10. 

Great  Passover — Of  Josiah 623 

Great  Synagogue — Prepared  the  Hebrew  text 

of  the  Old  Testament e.g.       327 

Habakkuk — The  prophet,  about 615 

Haggai — Prophet  in  time  of  Zerubbabel   .      .      .  520 
Hammurabi — King  of  Babylon;  see  Amraphel. 

Hanani — The  seer  reproved  Asa 916 

Hannah — Mother  of  Samuel  the  prophet  ...  1 146 

Hazael — Took  territory  (Bir-idri  died.)     .      .      .  842 

Oppressed  during  Jehoahaz's  reign      .      .      .  840  to    826 

Died 825 

Heber— The  Kenite.     Born  about  1400    .      .      .  1313 
Hebrew  Kingdom  Divided — By  Rehoboam  and 

Jeroboam  I 961 

Herod,  The  Great — Born  b.c.  71,  Died  b.c.   1, 
aged  almost  70. 

Reigned  from  b.c.  37  to  b.c.  1. — 36  yrs. 

Made  Governor  of  Judea      ....       b.c.  54 

Made  king  by  Romans b.c.  40 

Conquered  Antigonus B.C.  37 

Hezekiah — King  of  Judah,  Born  752,  Died  698, 
aged  54. 

Reigned  in  Jerusalem 727  to    698 

Hezekiah's  Sickness — b.c.  714. 

Second  term  of  Office     ....  713  to    698 

HoBAB — Son  of  Jethro  and  brother-in-law  of  Moses  1477 

Hosea — The  prophet,  about 775  to    726 

HosHEA — King  of  Israel 730  to    721 

Paid  tribute  to  Shalmaneser  IV     ....  728 

HuLDAH — The  prophetess 623 

Hyrcanus  I — Highpriest  and  Governor     .      .      .  135  to    104 
Hyrcanus  II  and  Aristobulus — Reigned   over 

the  Jews b.c.  67  to      63 

Hyrcanus  II — Ethnarch  at  Jerusalem  .      .     b.c.  63  to      40 


CHRONOLOGICAL   INDEX  87                     j 

Public  Service. 

IBZAN— The  judge 1225  to  1218 

Iddo — Prophet  during  reign  of  Rehoboam      .      .  942 

Independence  Day — Appointed  by  j 

Simon  Maccabeus  May  4     .      .      .      .     b.c.  141                             | 

Memorial  Tablet  commemorative  of  same  | 

placed  on  Mount  Sion  September  12    b.c.  140                             j 

Indignation— Interval  70  years 590  to    520               j 

f  Refused  Ezek.  20,  3.— Aug.  1st  590                             1 

Intercourse  I  ^^^.^^^^2ech.  1,  1. -Oct.  25th  520                             i 

Isaac— Son   of  Abraham.     Born   1882— Married  \ 

Rebekah  1842— Died  1702— aged  180.  j 

Was  5  years  old  in b.c.  1877                             3 

The  Exodus  was  400  years  later  (Gen.  15,13).  | 

Isaiah— The  prophet  lived  probably  95  years.  \ 

Prophesied  and  wrote  for  64  years.     .      .      .  744  to    680               | 

Ish-bosheth— 2d  Son  of  Saul,  and  king  of  Israel    .  1041  to  1034 

Born  1081— Died  1034— aged  47.  ■ 

IsHMAEL— Son   of   Abraham.     Born   1896— Died  ' 

1759— aged  137.  1 

Israel— Without  a  ruler,  last  5  chapters  in  Judges  1391  to  1371              -1 

Israel's — Captivity  under  Sargon  began  in    .      .  721                            i 

Israel  and  Judah — Separate   kingdoms   for   240  j 

years.     Jos.  Antq.  9,  14,  1 961  to    721              ^ 

Jacob— The   patriarch.     Born    1822- Died   1675  j 

—aged  147.  j 

Entered  Laban's  service  when  77  years  old.  j 

Served  Laban  7  years 1745  to  1738              , 

Married  both  Leah  and  Rachel       ....  1738                           \ 

Left  Laban  after  20  years'  service     ...  1725                           : 

Went  into  Egypt 1692                            : 

Jael — Wife  of  Heber  the  Kenite 1313                           ; 

Jahaziel — The  Levite,  became  a  prophet        .      .  878                           | 

Jair— The  Judge 1272  to  1250             | 

Jared— Bom  4341— Died  3379— aged  962.  j 

Jebusites— Descendants  of  Ham  and  builders  of  | 

Jerusalem.  .; 

Jehoahaz— King  of  Judah.     Born  632,  Reigned  j 

3  mos.  in  609.     Called  Shallum.     Jer.  22,  11.  i 

Jehoahaz — King  of  Israel.     Reigned    ....  840  to    862             | 

Hazael  oppressed  Israel  during  his  reign.  : 


88  CHRONOLOGY   OF   THE   HOLY   BIBLE 

Public  Service. 

Jehoahaz — II  Chron.  2o,  23. — Should  read: 

''And  Joash  the  king  of  Israel,  the  son  of  Jeho- 
ahaz, took  Amaziah  king  of  Judah,  the  son 
of  Joash." 
Jehoash — See  Joash — Kings  of  Judah  and  Israel. 
Jehoiachin — Called    also    (Coniah,    Jechonias, 
Jeconiah),  Born  615. 

Reigned  at  Jerusalem  3  months  in  597. 

Prisoner  in  Babylon  until  560.     Died  about 
B.C.  556,  aged  59  years. 
Jehoiada — The  prophet.     Born  about  960,  Died 
about  830,  age  130. 

He  trained  Joash,  the  King  of  Judah. 
Jehoiakim— Born  633— Died  597— aged  36. 

Called  also  Eliakim.     He  reigned  in  Judah    .       608  to    597 
Jehoxadab  or  Joxadab — Son  of  Rechab  the  Kenite     869 

Family  of  Rechabites,  obedient  in    .      .      .       596 

Example  of  Jehonadab  influential  for  273  yrs. 

''Jonadab,  shall   not  want  a  man  to  stand 
before  me  forever."     Jer.  35,  19. 

N.  B. — Rechabites  were  found  in  China  a.d.  1 160. 

"      ''Arabia''     1828. 
Jehoram— Born  908— Died  870— aged  38. 

Regent  2  years. 

Total  reign  over  Judah  6  years      ....       876  to    870 
Jehoshaphat — Born  934 — Died  875 — aged  59. 

Reigned  over  Judah 899  to    876 

Built  ships  at  Ezion-gaber 883 

Jehozadak  or  Josedech — Highpriest,  taken  captive    586 
Jehu— Son  of  Hanani 920  to    876 

Reproved  Baasha 917 

Reproved  Jehoshaphat  in 882 

Wrote  the  life  of  Jehoshaphat  in  ...      .       876 
Jehu — The    king,    Reigned    over    Israel — See 

Dynasty 869  to    840 

Jephthah — The  judge 1231  to  1225 

Jeremiah — Prophet  of  Judah 628  to    580 

Prophesied  and  wrote  for  48  years. 
Jeroboam  I — King  of  Israel 961  to    939 

Reigned  22  years — See  Dynasty. 
Jeroboam  II — King  of  Israel.     Reigned    .      .      .       810  to    772 


CHRONOLOGICAL    INDEX  89 

Public  Service. 

Jerusalem — Taken  from  Jebusites  ....  1034 
Jerusalem — Burnt  by  Nebuchadnezzar  .  .  .  586 
Jerusalem — Taken  by  Pompey,  May  24,  b.c.  63 
Jerusalem— Captured    by    Herod     and    Sosius 

Spring  of B.C.         37 

Jesse — Father  of  David,  born  about  .  .  .  .  mo 
Jethro  or  Raguel— The   Kenite,   Father-in-law 

of  Moses 1477 

Jezebel— Wife  of  Ahab,  daughter  of  king  of  Zidon      903  to    883 
JoASH  or  Jehoash — King  of  Judah  reigned     .      .       863  to    824 
Born  870— Died  824— aged  46. 

Ordered  Temple  repaired 850 

Various  delays  until 841 

Jehoiada  completed  the  work. 
JoASH  or  Jehoash— King  of  Israel  reigned     .      .       826  to    810 
Defeated  Amaziah  at  Bethshemesh.  .      ,      .       810 
In  II  Chron.  25,  23  read,  ^^the  son  of  Jehoahaz." 
Job — This  patriarch  hved  in  the  land  of  Uz,  near 
Chaldea.      Judged   by   the   ancestry   of    his 
friends,  it  is  probable  that  his  life  covered  the 
255  years  spent  by  Israel  in  Egypt  and  the 

Wilderness;  say b.c.     1692  to  1437 

Joel — The  prophet,  about 660 

John  Hyrcanus— Highpriest  of  the  Jews  .       b.c.       135  to    104 
Jonah.— The  prophet  started  a  great  Reformation 

in  Assyria  about 808 

Jonathan— Eldest  son  of  Saul.     Born  1083,  Died 

1041,  age  42. 
Jonathan  Maccabeus— Highpriest  of  the  Jews    b.c.  153  to    143 
Joram  or  Jehoram — King  of  Israel       ....       881  to    869 

Fought  Hazael 870 

Regent 881  to    875 

Jordan — Crossed  by  Israel,  March  21  ...      .     1437 
Joseph— Born  1731— Died  1621— aged  110. 

Sold  to  Ishmaelites 1714 

In  prison  2  years 1703  to  1701 

Governor  of  Egypt 1701 

7  years  of  plenty 1701  to  1694 

7      "      "   famine 1694  to  1687 

Embalmed  in  Egypt 1621 

Buried  in  Shechem  about 1421 

Interval  200  years. 


90  CHRONOLOGY   OF   THE   HOLY   BIBLE 

Public  Service. 

Joshua — Son  of  Nun.     Bom  1501,  Died  1391,  age 
110. 

From  Jordan  to  division  of  the  land  6  yrs. 

Division  of  land  to  death  of  Joshua  40  yrs. 

Ruled  Israel 1437  to  1391 

JosLiH— Born  648— Died  609— aged  39. 

Reigned  in  Judah 640  to    609 

Prophecy  of  961  fulfilled  in  birth  of  Josiah        .       648 

Interval  313  years. 
JoTHAM — King  of  Judah.     Born    782,    Died    742, 
aged  40. 

Reigned  as  regent 757  to    743 

'^        alone  1  year 743 

Judas  Aristobulus — King  of  the  Jews  1  yr.     b.c.       104 
Judas  Maccabeus — Highpriest  of  the  Jews  3  yrs.  b.c.  163  to    160 

Nation ''7  years  without  a  Highpriest"   .  b.c.       160  to    153 

Kadesh-barnea — Israel   arrived     .      .      .     July     1476 
[Ayn  Qadees]  ''       departed        .      .     July     1438 

Interval  38  years. 

Karkar  Battle b.c.       854 

Fought  by  Shalmaneser  II  and  Syrian  kings. 

Kenezites — Settled  near  the  Kenites  South  of 
Arad.  Caleb  the  commander  of  Israel  was 
a  Kenezite. 

Kenites — Their  land  first  mentioned  Gen.  15,  19     1921 

Jethro,  father-in-law  of  Moses 1476 

Kenites  af  Jericho 1431 

Kenites  with  Judah 1430 

Kenites  at  Kadesh 1313 

The   Rechabites   were    descendants   of    the 
Kenites.     See  Jehonadab. 

KoHATH — Father  of  Amram,  Born  about  1675, 
Died  1542,  age  133. 

KoRAH — Dathan  and  Abiram  buried  alive       .      .     1474 

Lamech— Father  of  Noah.   Born  3827— Died  3050 

—aged  777. 
Land  Divided — By  Joshua  and  Eleazar      .      .      .     1431 
Last  Date — Given  by  Old  Testament        .       b.c.       433 
Law — Given  on  Sinai 1477 


CHRONOLOGICAL   INDEX  91 

Public  Service. 

Levi— Father  of  Kohath.    Born  1734— Died  1597— 

aged  137. 
Line  of  Eleazar — The  highpriest. 

1st  Phinehas,  2  Abishua,  3  Bukki,  4  Uzzi,  5 

Zerahiah,  6  Meraioth  I 1438  to  1160 

Line  of  Ithamar — Brother  of  Eleazar. 

7th  EH,  8  Ahitub  I,  9  Ahmielech,  or  Ahiah,  10 

Abiathar 1160  to  1001 

Line  of  Eleazar — Continued. 

11  Zadok  I — 12  Azariah  I — 13  Amariah  I — 
14  Ahitub  11—15  Meraioth  11—16  Zadok  II 
— 17  Azariah  II — 18  Shalhim  or  Meshahum 
—19  Hilkiah— 20  Azariah  III— 21  Seraiah 
— 22  Jehozadak  or  Jozadak — 23  Jeshua  or 
Joshua— 24  Jehoiakim— 25  Ehashib— 26 
Joiada— 27  Jonathan— 28  Jaddua  .  .  ,  1001  to  433 
Lunar  Eclipse — March  13,  B.C.  4  followed  by  the 

Feast  of  Purim     .      .      .     March      14    B.C.  4 

Lunar  Eclipse — January  9,  b.c.  1  followed  by  the 

FAST  of  Tebet  ....     January  10    B.C.  1 

Mahalaleel— Born  4506— Died  3611— aged  895. 

Malachi — The  prophet,  about 400 

Mattaniah  or  Zedekiah — King  of  Judah  .      .      .       597  to    585 
Mattathias— The  Chasid,  father  of  the  Maccabees       168 
Menahem — The    usurper — King    of    Israel — See 

Dynasty 771  to    761 

Menelaus — Highpriest  of  the  Jews      .      .      .      .       173  to    163 
Mephibosheth — Son  of  Jonathan.     Born  1046. 
Merodach-baladan — King  of  Babylon      .      .      .       721  to    702 

Visited  Hezekiah 713 

Methusalah— Born  4014— Died  3045— aged  969. 

MiCAH— The  prophet     Jer.  26,  18 753  to    705 

MiCHAL — Daughter  of  Saul  and  wife  of  David.    In 

II  Sam.  21,  8.     Read  for  ''Michal"— Merab. 
MiCAiAH — The  prophet  warned  Ahab   ....       883 
MiDiANiTES — The   Descendants   of   Abraham  by 

Keturah. 
Miriam— Born  about  1565,  Died  1475,  age  90. 

Song  at  Red  Sea May         1477 

Afflicted  with  leprosy     ....       June         1476 

Died  at  Kadesh March      1475 


92  CHRONOLOGY   OF   THE   HOLY   BIBLE 

Public  Service. 

MoABiTE — Stone,  record  of  Mesha  the  king     .      .       909  to    869 
MoA BITES — Descendants  of  Lot  who  settled  East 

of. the  Dead  Sea. 
Moses— Born  1557— Died  1437— aged  120. 

Moses  slew  an  Egyptian 1517 

"     appeared  before  Pharoah     ....      1478 
"    in  the  Wilderness  till 1437 

Belonged  to  "  the  4th  generation"  (Gen.  15, 16) 

1st  Levi,  2  Kohath,  3  Amram,  4  Moses. 
Mount  Hor  [Jebel  j\L\durah] — Israel  Mourned 

for  Aaron  July  20  to  August  20    ...      .     1438 

Nabonidus — King  of  Babylon 566  to    541 

With  Belshazzar  his  son  ....  541  to    538- 

Nadab — King  of  Israel.     Reigned  1  j^ear    .      .      .  939 

Nahor— Born  2241— Died  2093— aged  148. 

Nahum — The  prophet  spoke  concerning  Nineveh. 

Josephus  says,  about 700 

Nahshon — Head  of  Tribe  of  Judah  and  father  of 

Salmon.     Died  in  Wilderness  before    .      .      .  1437 

Nathan — The  prophet. 

During  David's  reign 1041  to  1001 

Nebuchadnezzar — Made  king  of  Babylon      .      .  605 

Reigned 605  to    562 

Nehemiah — Governor  for  Persia 445  to    433 

Arrived  in  Jerusalem      .      .     July     9  445 

Proposed  to  rebuild  Temple  "     12  445 

Wall  finished        ....     Sept.    2  445 

Feast  of  Tabernacles      .      .         "      7  to  15  445 

Fast  of ''Rejoicing  of  the  Law"     "    30  445 

Nergal-sar-usur  Jer.  39,  3, 13 — King  of  Babylon   .  560  to    556 
Substitute  his  name  for  that  of  Evil-Merodach 
in  n  Kin.  25,  27.     Jer.  52,  31,  3. 

Nineveh's — Great  reformation. 

The  prophet  Jonah 808 

Nineveh  Destroyed 607 

''No  King  in  Israel"— Last  5  chapters  of  Judges  1391  to  1371 

Noah— Born  3645— Died  2695— aged  950. 

Obadiah— The  prophet 586  to    583^ 

Obed — Son  of  Boaz  and  Ruth.     Born  about  1 140 


CHRONOLOGICAL    INDEX  93                   .1 

Public  Service.  \ 

Obed — The  prophet;  about 736                           I 

Og — King  of  Bashan 1438                           j 

Olympiads — The  185th  covered  b.c.  40  to  36;  the  j 

194th  covered  B.C.  4  to  a.d.  1.  j 

Olympic  Games — Instituted 776                           \ 

Omri — Alone,  King  of  Israel — See  Dynasty       .      .  909  to    903             \ 

Othniel— The  judge 1363  to  1359             1 

j 

Patriarchs — Adam,  Seth,  Enos,  Cainan,  Maha-  j 

laleel,   Jared,   Enoch,   Methusalah,    Lamech,  I 

Noah,  Shem,  Arphaxad,  Salah,  Eber,  Peleg,  \ 

Reu,   Serug,   Nahor,  Terah,  Abraham,  Isaac,  i 

Jacob,  and  Job.  -| 

Pekah— Reigned  in  Israel 759  to    730             ■ 

Pekahiah — King  of  Israel.     Reigned  2  years  .      .  761  to    759             ' 

Peleg— Born  2633,  Died  2394,  age  239.  ; 

Persia — Conquered   at  Cunaxa       .      .      .       b.c.  401                          i 

"          by  Alexander       ..       b.c.  331                          \ 

Pharoah-necho — Slew  Josiah 609                          : 

Philip — The  tetrarch,  Son  of  Herod,  reigned  from  ^ 

B.C.  1  -to  A.D.  37.   Agrippa  his  successor  in  a.d.  37  : 

Phinehas— Son  of  Eleazar.  Highpriest  probably  j 

30  years 1408  to  1378            ^ 

Pontius  Pilate — Roman  governor  of  Judah  | 

a.d.  26  to  36  inclusive.  : 

PoROS  and  Chinzeros — Kings  of  Babylon      .      .  731  to    726            ; 

(Porus=  Pul= Tiglath-pileser.) 

Pompey— Took  Jerusalem,  May  24     .      .      .     b.c.  63                          ; 

Promise  made  to  Abraham  in 1907                         j 

Prophets  of  Baal — Slain  by  Elijah    ....  887                         ^ 

Slain  by  Jehu       ....  869                         | 

Queen  Alexandra — Reigned  over  the  Jews     b.c.  76  to      67            j 

i 

Rahab  or  Rachab  of  Jericho.  j 

Wife  of  Salmon  of  tribe  Judah.  [Matt.  1,  5]  1437                         j 

The  "Pocahontas"  of  Israel's  history.  | 

Rechab — Father  of  Jehonadab 869                         i 

Red  Sea  Crossing May  1477                        ^ 

Rehoboam— King  of  Judah.     Reigned    ...  961  to    943            j 

Born  1002— Died  943— aged  59.  - 


94  CHRONOLOGY   OF   THE   HOLY  BIBLE 

Public  Service. 

Reu— Bom  2503— Died  2264— aged  239. 
Reuben — Eldest  son  of  Jacob,     Born  1737. 

Rezin— King  of  SjTia 745  to    732 

Roman  Years — a.u.c.  752=  b.c.  2;  a.u.c.  782= 
a.d.29;a.u.c.  786=A.D.  33. 

Rome — Founded April  21       753 

Ruth — ^Wife  of  Boaz.     Born  in  Moab,  aboui  1 170 

Sabbatic   Year — Last   observance   of  the 

commandment  in b.c.     1080 

Last  of  series  of  omissions  ....       B.C.       590 

Babylonian  Captivity  70  years.  

(II  Chron.  36,  21)   .      .     ^      .      .      .       Diff.       490  years 
Salah— Born  2897— Died  2464— aged  433.  = 
Salomon — Son  of  Xahshon.     Probably  one  of  the 
spies  sent  out  of  Jericho.    Born  in  Wilder- 
ness about 1460 

Married  Rahab  of  Jericho — Matt.  1,  5. 

Samaria— Capital  of  Israel 908  to    722 

Saimaria — Taken  by  Sargon 722 

Samson— The  judge 1180  to  1160 

Samuel— The  prophet.    Born  1144— Died  1043— 
aged  101. 

Ruler  of  Israel 1120  to  1081 

Judge 1081  to  1043 

AtMizpeh 1101 

Sanctuary — Of  Herod's  Temple  dedicated      b.c.         18 
''Forty  and   six  jTars  was  this  Temple  in 

building" b.c.  18  to  a.d.  29 

S^^R^^H— ^Yife  of  Abraham.    Born  1973— Died  1846 
— aged  127. 

Sargon — King  of  Assyria 722  to    704 

Saul— Son  of  Kish.     First  King  of  Israel    .      .      .     1081  to  1041 

Born  1104,  Died  1041,  age  63. 
Sceptre—''  Departed  from  Judah"  (Gen.  49, 16)  b.c.        1 
Seleucidae  Era  : 

Greek  standard  ....  October  1  b.c.  312 
Babylonian  "  ....  I\Iarch  B.C.  312 
Josephus  "  ....  October  1  B.C.  312 
I  and  II  Maccabees  standard  October  1  b.c.  312 
Sennacherib — King  of  Assyria 704  to    680 


CHRONOLOGICAL   INDEX 

Septuagint — Greek  translation  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment made  by  the  Seventy       .      .      .       b.c. 

Serug— Born  2373— Died  2143— aged  230. 

Servitudes — (Total  92  years)  : 

Mesopotainia 8  years 

Moabites 18 

Canaanites 20 

Midianites 7 

Philistines  and  Ammonites  .      .19 
Phihstines 20 

Seth — Son  of  Adam.     Born  5071 — Died  4159 — 
aged  912. 

Seventy  Weeks — Dan.  9,  24     .      .     490  years. 
Passover  of  b.c.  458  to  Passover  of  a.d.  33. 

Shadrach,  Meshach,  Abed-nego — Were   made 
officers  of  Babylon      .... 
Placed  in  fiery  furnace  .... 
Were  promoted 

Shallum — Reigned  1  month  in  Judah 

Shiloh — Sacred  city  of  Israel  for  310  years 
Burnt  by  the  Philistines  in 

Shalmaneser  II — King  of  Assyria 
Battle  Karkar    . 
invaded  Syria     . 
Jehu  paid  tribute 
went  to  Damascus 
—King  of  Assyria 

Shalmaneser  IV — King  of  Assyria 

Shamgar — The  judge  after  Ehud    . 

Shishak — King  of  Egypt,  despoiled  Temple 

Shem— The  3rd  son  of  Noah.     Born  3145— Died 
2545— aged  600. 

Shemaiah — The  prophet,  about 

Siege  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar 
Dan.  1,  1. 

SiHON — King  of  Heshbon 

Simon — Captain  in  the  Maccabean  period  . 

Simon — Highpriest  and  Governor    .      .      .       B.C. 

Sinai — Israel  arrived  there June 

'^      departed May 

SiSERA — Commander  of  Canaanites       .... 


year 


His  6th 
"  10th      " 
"  18th      '' 
"  21st      " 
Shalmaneser  III- 


95 

Public  Service. 


284 


1371  to  1363 
1359  to  1341 
1333  to  1313 
1309  to  1302 
1250  to  1231 
1200  to  1180 


603 
594 
593 

772 

1431  to  1121 
1121 

860  to 

854 

850 

842 

839 

783  to 

727  to 
1337  to  1333 

957 


829 


773 
721 


955 
606 

1438 

145  to  143 
143  to  135 

1477 

1476 

1313 


96  CHRONOLOGY   OF   THE   HOLY    BIBLE 

Public  Service. 

Sodom  and  Gomorrah — Destroyed 1893 

Solomon— Son  of  David.     Born  1024,  Died  961, 

age  63.     Reigned 1001  to    961 

Temple  begun 998 

finished 991    ■ 

Palace  finished 978 

Standard  Sabbatic  Years b.c.  37  and  b.c.  30 

Sun  Dial — Erected  by  Ahaz,  about     ....  733 

Tabernacle — In  Wilderness 1477  to  1437 

In  Canaan 1437  to  1431 

At  Shiloh 1431  to  1121 

Tabernacle  and  altar  at  Gibeon      ....  1121  to    991 

Tadmor — Built  by  Solomon 975 

Taxation — Taxes  collected  a.d.  7  by  Cyrenius 

Josephus  says  ''37th  year  of  Caesar's  victory." 

Temple — Service  ceased b.c.  585  to    515 

Interval  70  years. 
Temple  Despoiled  by  Antiochus  Epiphanes, 

November  27 b.c.  168 

Temple  of   Herod — 82  years   building   b.c.    18 
to  a.d.  65 

10,000  workmen  employed  in    .      .      .       b.c.  18 

18,000         "        discharged  in  .      .      .      a.d.  64 
Terah — Father  of  Abraham.     Born  2112 — Died 

1907— aged  205. 

Tiberius  Caesar — Began  to  reign  August  19  a.d.  14 

-    Joint  rule  with  Augustus  Caesar     .      .       a.d.  11  to      14 

Died March    26  a.d.  37 

Tiberius    1st  year  completed    August  19  a.d.  15 

"       15th  "^  "           "            August  19   "  29 

"      23rd  ended                  August  19  "  37 

Tibni  and  Omri — Reigned  in  Israel      .      .      .      .  914  to    909 

TiGLATH-PiLESER  IV — King  of  Assyria.      .      .      .  745  to    727 

Known  also  by  name  of  Pul  or  Poros. 

Received  tribute  from  Uzziah 743 

TiRZEH— Capital  of  Israel 961  to    908 

Tola— The  judge 1295  to  1272 

Tower  of  Babel  and  Confusion  of  Tongues  .      .  2633 

UzziAH  or  AzARiAH — Bom  826,  Died  743,  age  83. 

Reigned  actively 810  to    757 


CHRONOLOGICAL   INDEX  97 

Public  Service. 

Smitten  with  leprosy  and 

Reigned  passively 757  to    743 

Urijah — Prophesied  against  Jerusalem  about      .       607 

Wilderness — For  40  years 1477  to  1437 

Stayed  at  Sinai    ....     11  months 
Stayed  at  Kadesh     ...     38  years 
On  the  journey    .      .      .      .     13  months 

Xerxes — King  of  Persia 485  to    465 

Called  '' Ahasuerus"  in  Hebrew. 
See  book  of  Esther. 

Zachariah — Last  of  House  of  Jehu.   Reigned  7  mos.   772 

Zadok— The  priest 1010  to    970 

Zechariah — Son  of  Jehoiada,  slain       ....       828 
Zechariah — The  prophet,  grandson  of  Iddo  .      .       520  to    518 
Zedekiah — King  of  Judah.     Born  618. 

Called  also  Mattaniah.     Reigned  ....       597  to    585 

Visited  Babylon  in  honor  of  Nebuchadnezzar's 

golden  image.     Jer.  51,  59 594 

Carried  captive  to  Babylon 585 

Zephaniah — The  prophet about      630 

Zerubbabel: 

Was  ordered  to  build  the  Temple    August    27      520 

Began  work September  19       520 

Set  up  altar    . 

Foundation  laid  . 

''Earth  at  peace" 

Temple  finished 


September  25  520  , 

December   17  520  i 

February     14  519  \ 

February       9  515 


Zerubbabel   died   later    than   the    battle   of 
Marathon.     See  Hag.  2,  23. 

Battle  of  Marathon  was  fought       .      .     B.C.       490 
Zerubbabel's  Temple  to  Nehemiah's  Temple  .      .       515  to    445 

Interval  70  years. 

ZiMRi — Reigned  7  days  in  Israel 915 

Zoan  or  Rameses — Ancient  Egyptian  city,  built 

7  years  later  than  Hebron.     Scene  of  Israel's 

servitude,  after  death  of  Joseph     ....     1621  to  1477 

Interval  144  years.     Psalm  78,  43. 

The  name  of  Rameses  was  given  to  the  city 
many  years  after  the  time  of  the  Exodus. 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  REH'URN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  50  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.00  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


OCT    5   1935 


V  ^  M  /lU.j/9St^ '^<^  fCt^ 


0d2?*49C 


^^^^It 


1>ge.  ZZ^ 


^EC  CW.    JUL  'i  ^  76 


Jau.-u^ 


\iaY  G    1977  0 


^   ^^"^^ 


b9S^ 


^W 


SEP  1  4  1978 


H!l 


>   o 


o   1Q  '-^ 


^ 


t* 


#4 


r^:. 


1952 


LD  21-100m-7,'33 


/ 


